


Resident Evil: Blood & Revolvers

by TwilightGalaxies



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst and Feels, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Brad is Benjamin, Changes in Character ages, Character Death, Claire is a little rough around the edges, Crossover, Dark, Dark subjects, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Gun Violence, Horses, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lasso energy, Loss of Parent(s), M/M, Misogyny, Name Changes, No Smut, Original Character(s), Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Post-Video Game: Red Dead Redemption (2010), Protective Siblings, Redfield Temper, Romance, Slow Burn, Southern accents, Suicidal Thoughts, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Trauma, Undead Nightmare inspired, Wilderness Survival, jackednotstacked
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24369673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightGalaxies/pseuds/TwilightGalaxies
Summary: Set in 1917 Western America, Claire Redfield is on a quest to find the only family she has left, her brother who has been missing for several months and has been presumed dead. Slowly losing any hope in finding him, Claire receives a mysterious letter claiming he is alive somewhere in the West. Following any lead and rumor Claire can, she first arrives in Armadillo where she is thrown into a wild adventure full of allies, dangerous outlaws, and the undead. Upon meeting a woman named Jill Valentine, Claire is thrust into an unexpected romance. Joined by Jill and many others she embarks upon a perilous search for her brother Christopher and the cause of the zombie apocalypse ravaging the Earth, all the while trying to protect those she's grown to love and care for.
Relationships: Claire Redfield/Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy/Ada Wong, Moira Burton/Ashley Graham, Piers Nivans/Chris Redfield, Sherry Birkin/Helena Harper, Slight Sherry Birkin/Jake Muller
Comments: 128
Kudos: 46





	1. As Fate Would Have It

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! So I really do not know where this came from, but I happened to be playing the first Red Dead Redemption when I had a sudden and random thought-Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine as gun-toting badasses in the West, so this was how this story concept was born. My favorite DLC to date is from Red Dead Redemption (2010) which is called Undead Nightmare. You've guessed it! It's zombies and so what better crossover than with another zombie game, right? Well at least I hope those of you who like the games will like this. :) Thank you if you have given this story a shot and stay safe out there.

July 18th, 1917

A loud scream startles her awake and blue eyes slam open as her chest rises and falls. Sitting up from the creaky bed, Claire sighs deeply and she sets her hands to her face wiping it since her face was dripping in sweat. Wiping the leaking tears from her cheeks, the redhead surveys her blurry surroundings. To her confusion, she was inside of a jail cell. It was dark and cold within the dark brick she was enclosed inside of and she tried hard to keep away her panic. 

“Fuck.” Her raspy voice grumbles out and she eventually opens her eyes back open upon hearing footsteps. Looking between her gloved fingers the woman raises a brow when she sees the Sheriff standing in front of her with a deep frown on his ugly and scruffy white bearded face. 

“Redfield.” The black bearded man growls before he moves his silver key towards the lock of her cell. He had in his other hand her brown holster and silver revolver. Tossing it to the bed beside the redhead she moves to stand wincing since her face felt like it was on fire. 

Lifting up her cuffed wrists she glared at the lawman with disdain until he shifted to unlock her chains.

“You’re lucky someone bailed you out.” He said, but she could only glare at him in response as she moved to rub at her sore wrists. Lifting up her holster she attaches it to her hip and she brushes her long red hair out of her face before she returns her hat to its rightful place. 

“Could you at least tell me what I did this time, Clayborne?” She spat, stepping out of the moist cell with a shiver as she watched Sheriff Clayborne move to sit at his desk. His dark brown eyes continued to glare at her before he shifted back to set his boots on his desk. 

“Can’t hold liquor like your good for nothing daddy…” Clayborne grumbled before he answered her question, “Take a look at the mirror Claire and maybe you will remember the fight you started at the bar last night.” He said moving his glare to the next inmate who was laughing once Claire moved to the mirror and she gasped upon seeing the new scars on her face. One pink scar ran across her left eyebrow and the other where it stung the most was on the side of her cheek to the edge of her nose. She touched the one on her eyebrow and she hissed since it was still bloody from the broken bottle that had been thrown at her. Claire was certain the Sheriff and his boys probably did not mind roughing her up either based upon the fingernail scratches on her arms. She closed her blue eyes for a moment, no longer wanting to look at her reflection and she thought about her older brother who would have gone ballistic if he saw her in this condition. Tracing the scar that faded towards her nose with her finger, Claire grimaced at the realization it could have been much worse. 

“No more drinking.” She whispered out crossing her arms when Clayborne stood to hand her a letter.

“What’s this?” She asked with confusion, her eyebrows crinkling downward as she scanned its contents. 

“Some lady came by and told me to give you this. Do I look like someone who cares when the Feds come around flashing their fancy badges? No, so get the hell out of here Redfield.” The grumpy graying man said with a wave as she exited the jailhouse. She shook her head at the old man before she went back to reading the letter. 

With shock her clear blue eyes raked across the faded yellow paper before she crumbled it up in her hand. 

“Christopher.” Claire gasps out ignoring the people walking around her as she whistles for her horse. She was going to gather up all of her belongings and head West because now she had a lead, a lead that her brother was alive. 

July 20th, 1917. 

The black train vibrates in a loud roar as it rumbles on the tracks through miles upon miles of the dry desert, past tan rolling hills and surrounding plateaus. Ever present this far in the southwest were dots of green cactus among the orange and yellow dirt that would occasionally skip across the rocks with the wind and the tumbleweeds. To Claire sitting within the train car, this land was her home and she would gladly call it her home again. However, there were just a few problems with her plan for happiness. 

Her brother Christopher has been missing for 6 months and his body has never been found. Claire felt it in her heart that Christopher was still alive but any leads she had searched through were much like wells running dry. 

Rumors had been all she had to go on and to her disappointment the law did not appear to care enough to help. With her growing reputation as a troublemaker only making it that much harder, Claire learned rather quickly that she was on her own. However, despite this firm belief, Claire had received a mysterious letter in which it was claimed Christopher was alive and he was being searched for by the Federal Government. Not being able to identify who had sent the note had been frustrating but for Claire any hints to his whereabouts was just as good as being given gold.

Regardless of the hope inspired in Claire, she could not help but feel uneasy about the mystery of who else was looking for him. She had no idea as to whether they were the reason he had disappeared or if they were legitimately trying to find him. Unanswered questions swirled in her mind and Claire glared at the seat in front of her. 

As the train continued its trek towards the town of Armadillo, Claire stretched slightly when the sun came into view. Out here it was an oppressive heat but there was nothing more beautiful than a golden sunset in her opinion. Lifting her gaze away from the dirty train window she looked around past the old lady in front of her who was rambling some nonsense to the other passengers in the train car with her.

“And those foreigners from Mexico are just as bad I tell you…” She heard the grey haired lady in front of her say but she blocked her out when her gaze landed on a woman that was sitting on the right side of the train. Curiosity getting the best of her, Claire scooted from the window towards the middle of the train to get a better look at her.

Only able to see the back of her, Claire noticed she had long brunette hair and tanned skin kissed by the sun. Her side profile was one of obvious beauty and the outfit she was wearing also caught her interest. She was wearing a blue collared shirt tucked into dark suit pants which nearly hid the spurs that were attached to the back of the woman's black boots. Stretching out and probably looking like a fool Claire’s face heated up when the woman glanced behind her with her eyes landing on Claire since she was still staring at her.

Locking gazes with the stranger, the redhead’s lungs seemed to seize its function and she sucked in a breath when intense arctic blue eyes met with hers. She quickly adjusted her stare however and Claire’s eyes landed on the woman’s chest unintentionally. The redness on her face increased and she nearly panicked until she spotted a familiar silver star attached to the woman’s dark vest.

Having the grace to look away she hid a blush by covering it with her black gloved hand and she kept her gaze to the window to avoid further embarrassment. Claire had never seen a woman of the law before but she felt it had to be a crime to be that pretty. Suddenly before she could think about it further a man stopped beside her and she tensed. 

Usually people were required to stay seated while the train was moving but some apparently did not heed this rule. When the man chose to sit next to Claire, she glanced at the man to see what he wanted. 

On appearance alone he looked young but Claire decided he had to be older than she was herself. The man had short brown hair with a scruffy beard he was in the process of growing and a blinding white smile. 

“Howdy, I was curious to know why a beauty like you is travelin’ on her own.” 

“Beauty? Are you blind or something?” Claire immediately rebuffed, loosening her grip on her silver revolver since she knew it would only cause her trouble if she were to shoot him. He laughed in response to her abrasive tone before he spoke again. 

“Not blind but perhaps a little deaf. My name’s Benjamin Vickers ma’am, and you are?” 

“Claire Redfield.” She said eyeing him and not knowing why she hadn’t made up a name on the spot. 

“Would you happen to be related to James Redfield?” He asked next, missing when Claire visibly tensed. She frowned wondering why he felt the need to make small talk with her. 

“No.” She grunted simply looking away with clear irritation on her face.

“No? I heard he was the best sharpshooter the west has ever seen!” Benjamin went on and she relaxed slightly as he went on talking. 

“Until John Marston you mean.” She chuckled, receiving a nod from him as he looked her over. She took notice but she refrained from openly glaring at him. 

“Both of them are legends in my opinion.” He said with a grin.

“Ben, who are you flirting with now?” A voice cut in disrupting the easiness Ben had been trying to create. Claire’s gaze darted upward and she was met with a smirking woman who did not appear fazed by the look Benjamin was giving her. She sighed inwardly with relief. 

“No one important.” Claire offered, “I take it this ain’t his first time?” She went on her heart calming under the other woman’s stare. She was unsure of why the woman made her feel calm but she could see a fire in the other’s eyes that interested her. 

“Ben tries his best.” The other woman remarked ruffling his hair and earning a grunt of annoyance and Claire laughed aloud.

“Come on now Rebecca, let’s leave this nice lady alone.” Ben said with embarrassment but she completely ignored Ben much to his chagrin. 

“My name’s Rebecca Chambers and you can drop the miss or the ma’am... Miss Redfield was it?” Rebecca sassed but with a good natured smile that made Claire smile in return and she gripped her hand when Rebecca reached to shake hers. They both were wearing gloves but she could feel how firm of a grip Rebecca had that surprised her because of how small she looked in size. She could not help but look from her hand to her arm where she could see muscle as she tensed after letting go of Claire’s hand. 

“Just call me Claire.” She replied turning her head when the train began to slow its descent towards Armadillo. 

“What brings you to Armadillo?” Rebecca asked her as she set her hand on the back of the train chair they were sitting on. 

“Family business, and what brings you here?” Claire questioned receiving a chuckle from the dark haired woman. 

“Law business.” Rebecca offered up before she stepped aside so that the man she called Ben could stand. They walked towards the train door and Claire soon lifted up to join the rest of the passengers who were leaving the train. 

Looking at the black smoke that flowed from the train’s pipe above their heads she stepped off the last step before she lifted up her hand tipping down her brown hat to block the blinding sun that was now beating down on them. Lifting up her silver pocket watch, Claire saw that it was mid-noon before she looked around the town she spent time in her youth. It looked much the same with several wooden buildings and businesses meshed together. It was much smaller than the towns in the East but it had its quaint charm about it. 

Horses pulling a cart of people as well as other people on horses rode by as she walked through the middle of the dusty road. Behind her had been the railroad tracks where the train often let off visitors whereas to her left was a large saloon and to the right a general store. As she continued to walk she passed by rowdy people who looked to be drunk and the saloon and a gunsmith until she stopped in her attempts to gather herself. Knowing that she needed to find the Sheriff’s office she started her walk in its direction, hefting the bag with her belongings over her shoulder as she did so.

“Hey lady!” A loud voice called out that made Claire groan internally. She knew they were talking to her by how close the voice was and she soon turned her head to look at them. 

“My my, you look prettier than I thought.” The stranger laughed out and Claire glared at him from where she stood. 

“What do you want?” Claire questioned impatiently feeling exposed since she was standing out in the middle of the town. Walking closer to Claire, the man in chaps smiled at her when he lifted up a knife into her face. Eyes falling down her face to her body, Claire’s hands closed into fists at the threat. 

“Ain’t you sellin’?” The drunk man asked with a grin and Claire said nothing in response not remembering Armadillo as a place full of scum. Clearly the law was starting to slack if this was the case. 

“Sellin’ what?” Claire offered back like he was stupid and he quickly frowned in response. 

“I know a whore when I see one. You have the scars on your face to prove it.” The grungy man laughed and she could tell by the sweat on his shirt and the dirt on his face he was a ranch hand of some kind who’s had a few too many. Moving with the knife in his hands towards Claire she quickly reacted and she lifted up her revolver to his pants, cocking the hammer back with a click that made him pause. 

“If you ever want to have children you better turn around and leave now.” Claire spat out with a leveled glare his way as his green eyes fell to the gun aimed at his crotch. Part of her felt he deserved it but she tried to keep her cool when the man looked back up at her. 

“Is there a problem here Jones?” A voice called out that cut through the building tension in the air. Sweating under the hot sun, Claire moved the hair stuck to her face to look at the person beside them. He had a gun in his hand but soon Jones waved the man off. 

“No problem at all Will, just havin’ a chat with this pretty lady.” The man supposedly called Jones said and he soon dropped his knife and he lifted up his hands. However instead of walking away Jones suddenly darted towards Claire and the other man named Will moved to close in on her so she turned the revolver to the other man and she shot. Hitting him in the neck he fell in a thud before she was caught by Jones who knocked her to the ground. 

Grunting from the impact Claire struggled as people around them screamed and ran due to the sound of her gunshot. Punching at her and scratching at her arms Claire growled out and she struggled with her attacker since he had knocked her gun away. 

“You fuckin’ bitch, why didn’t you just play nice?” Jones shouted out lifting the knife he had dropped in an attempt to stab her. Stopping him Claire pushed at his arms when the only thing in view became his knife. 

“Not a screamer.” Jones said with a smile and Claire continued to struggle with the heavy man on top of her. Finally knocking the knife away Claire prepared to punch him in the face when someone suddenly pulled the stinking man off of her. 

Knocking him in the head with a gun, Jones unconscious form fell to the dusty ground while Claire breathed out heavily in her attempts to calm her racing heart. 

When a hand came into view Claire hesitantly took it and she was hefted up with ease. Face to face with Ben, she let go of his hand and she backed up when Rebecca came into view with a frown on her face. 

“Are you alright?” Ben asked as he held up a black revolver in the air which had blood coating it from hitting the attacker in the face. While Rebecca moved to tie the man up and Claire said nothing as she moved to pick up her revolver and hat. Turning to face them Claire tucked her revolver into her holster before she moved to dust off her hat. 

“Don’t worry about me.” She replied, her eyes falling to the dead man beside them on the ground. Blood was seeping from the wound in his neck to the dirt under him and soon all she could hear was her own breathing until a dark horse and another person came into view. 

Ben with slight surprise on his face moved to lift up the tied up Jones to the horse before both Rebecca and Ben looked to the dead man. 

“You both are acting like you haven’t seen a dead man before.” Claire said with a frown looking up to the other person surprised when she realized it was the other woman she had seen on the train. Noticing the silver stars she tensed and she moved to touch the collar of her red vest nervously. 

“They have, they just don’t usually see someone shoot so quickly. You’ve got a fast draw there.” The woman on the midnight dark horse said and Claire’s gaze flicked up from the saddle to the woman sitting on the horse. She was even prettier up close and since she was shadowing Claire from the blaring sun she could see her features much better. Her lips were pink and smiling and despite the intense stare from before her eyes looked kind when they looked at her, although Claire sensed a certain power in them as if she knew her way around a fight or two. Noticing a few scars on her collarbone Claire looked back up to her face when she whirled the horse around to face her. 

“What’s your name? Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.” The woman said and Claire blushed upon realizing she had been staring at her without speaking. Glancing at Ben and Rebecca briefly she tried to ignore the evident amusement on Rebecca's features when she answered the question. 

“Claire, and who are you?” She asked, wanting to kick herself for coming across so blunt. She had more class than that but then again she spent most of her time around rough types and people who often got drunker than a skunk. 

A chuckle entered her ears that made her feel at ease and the woman simply smiled at her, “Jill Valentine and we’re from out of state. Would you happen to know your way around or someone who could point us in the direction of Rio Bravo?” Claire’s heart thumped at hearing Jill’s name and she spoke it silently to herself finding she liked the sound of it. Not wishing to come across as any ruder than she was Claire offered a small smile in return. 

“You’re being awfully nice to me by not throwing me in jail. I used to live here so I could take you there.” Claire replied but she bit her lip upon remembering she did not have a horse to ride on. Shifting her hold on the bag she was holding her eyes fell on Rebecca who seemed to pick up on this however before she could speak Jill interrupted her. 

“After I drop this ‘man’ off, you can ride with me. Rebecca will see about getting herself and Ben horses for the trip. Do you have a place to stay?” Jill questioned and Claire hid a smile when she saw the complacent looks on Rebecca and Ben’s faces. Somehow she suspected they were used to listening to Jill’s orders but it seemed different to see a woman in such a position. 

“I just arrived here, so no I don't have a place.” Claire answered wiping at her face due to the sweat that was accumulating, thankfully she could now feel a gentle breeze which was helping with the growing heat. 

“You can stay with me Claire, unless you prefer the Saloon.” Rebecca offered and Claire felt her face heat up at the suggestion in her sentence. Realizing she had not meant it that way Claire crossed her arms displaying deep red scratches and bruises once she did so. 

“I wouldn’t want to impose…” Claire started despite her desire to be anywhere but the sleazy saloon where she knew some less than favorable people stayed or more so people who knew about her. 

“Not an imposition in the least. Let’s get going!” Rebecca said her voice rising with her excitement in which Jill and Ben shook their heads playfully. Tipping her hat to Claire, Jill left with the unconscious criminal and she could not avoid watching her ride away. Eyes watching Jill and the horse become smaller in the distance she turned when she heard Rebecca clear her throat. Having been caught looking again Claire’s face became beet red much to her own annoyance. Blaming it on the sun she soon followed behind Rebecca and Ben who were looking for someone who sold horses. 

“How did you get involved with the law?” Claire asked after a few minutes of the three of them walking and they stopped upon seeing a man who was walking a brown mare out of a barn. 

“Well my father was a lawman and it was expected of me. I am the oldest of five girls so you can figure it out from there…” Benjamin answered and he moved to walk closer to her as they talked. Sensing his interest Claire glanced away in order to show her subtle disinterest. 

“What about you Rebecca?” Claire asked curiously not missing the frown from Ben when she looked away. 

“Oh, I just have always wanted to help people. I grew up with Jill and when she applied I did as well. We did not believe they would let us but I suppose they saw some potential. You see...quite a few lawmen died one year and they were running out of options. What about you Claire? What is it that you do?” Rebecca commented, moving her long brown hair from her face as she moved to fan herself with her hat. Looking away from her green eyes, Claire trained her focus on the man they were walking towards when she finally answered. 

“Poker and other unladylike things.” Claire replied honestly, stopping next to Rebecca as Ben went to speak with the man about two horses. 

“Well you have to make a living somehow. Are you married? I do not see a ring on your finger.” Rebecca commented and Claire looked from Rebecca’s brown boots to her fingers which she had initially thought had been absent of a ring as well. To her surprise Rebecca had a silver ring on her ring finger. 

“No, I’ve never been married.” Claire admitted noticing Ben when he returned to them after speaking with the man. Appearing a little downtrodden she raised a brow as two beautiful horses were tugged over to them by the man. 

“We got them for a lot but we wouldn’t get around without ‘em.” Ben said turning to face the yellow stallion who he moved to gently pet. Since they were already saddled they did not appear skittish around them so Claire knew they had been broken in. 

“Oh, she’s a beauty.” Rebecca gasped out as she moved to swiftly jump onto the other horse which appeared to be a brown mare. Patting the horse’s dark mane Rebecca smiled and Claire could tell she had a love for animals as she did not appear to be wearing spurs. 

“Come on Claire, Jill’s waitin’ on us.” Rebecca said and Claire turned upon hearing the sound of a horse’s trot. Met with Jill and the midnight colored stallion, Claire steeled her nerves before she tugged her body up behind Jill realizing quite suddenly what she would have to do. 

“Do you mind if I…?” Claire questioned, slightly overwhelmed by the fact Jill smelt like flowers instead of sweat and dirt. It was faint but it never bothered Claire but the niceness was a pleasant surprise. Hearing a soft chuckle she received an affirmative and carefully Claire wrapped her arms around the stranger’s torso trying not to get over heated since she’s never felt more out of element in her life. 

Luckily since Jill appeared to be taller than Claire she did not have to contend with her hat in her face and she shifted a little in the saddle when Jill turned the stallion around and she began to ride in the direction Claire pointed them too. 

“I have to mention this is gonna be a long ride.” Claire called out after a long silence between the four of them. Listening to the sound of hooves impacting the dusty trail, Claire turned to look at the land to see the cactus's and the blowing grass, with a smile rising on her face when she saw deer and rabbits frolicking across the plains around them. Crossing a track she found she was still used to the dampness and bumpiness of the ride so Claire found she was more unused to riding with another person instead of her own horse. 

“That’s just fine, we’re used to it, ain’t we Vickers?” Jill called out receiving a confirming shout from Ben who was trailing behind them. Flexing her fingers Claire’s heart thud hard against her chest when Jill’s stomach flexed as well and she felt the muscle underneath her shirt. Trying hard to not think about it, Claire moved her hands away as heat spread from her face to the tips of her ears. 

“Don’t be shy now. I don’t bite.” Jill suddenly said which seemed to only worsen the feelings Claire was having. Not understanding why this stranger was making her feel like this, Claire chose to focus on her anger and worry about her brother instead.

“Where do we go from here?” Jill piped up after a long trot through the same trial they had started on. Snapping out of her reflection on the letter Claire had in her pack, she glanced around testing her familiarity when she realized they needed to go back and turn to the left. 

“We’ll have to go back a bit and turn. Apologies.” Claire mumbled out biting her lip since apologizing was another rare thing for her to do. Brushing her hair from her scarred face Claire huffed as her frustration built. 

“Are you sure she knows where we are goin’?” Ben whispered out but due to their slowing pace, Claire had heard him. Turning to glance at Ben, Claire’s temper rose like a bonfire. 

“I know this land forwards, backwards, and sideways!” Claire growled crossing her arms when Jill suddenly stopped the horse. With the horse walking they went off to the side of the trail until she corrected the horse’s direction. 

A loud series of gunfire spooked the horses and the one they were on lifted its hooves up in a jump that knocked Claire off. Grunting from the second time she’s impacted the dirty ground Claire performed a roll in order to avoid being stepped on. Losing her hat once again Claire sidestepped Ben’s horse who tried to run off from the loud sounds. Losing his hold on his horse Ben fell to the ground as well and Claire reacted again moving to grab onto Ben’s horse’s reins only to end up being dragged in the process. 

“Fuck.” Claire grunted out her arms burning from the exertion as the yellow stallion began to gallop instead of trot away because of it’s rising fear. Keeping her hold she shifted to grab onto the saddle and she hung on for dear life not wanting to hit the ground from such a fast speed because she knew it would hurt like hell. While Claire was in the midst of struggling with getting on top of the fleeing horse, Jill pulled out her revolver and she aimed it at the men behind them when she spotted a trio of horses and riders coming in their direction. Glaring at them she took two of them out with swift and accurate shots and she ducked at the fire when the third turned his attention to her. To her relief, Rebecca managed to fire at the third and she hit him directly in the chest knocking him from his horse when she did. Watching as the rogue horses ran full speed past them they turned their attention from the criminals to Claire and Ben. 

Helping Ben up onto her horse Rebecca soon followed after Jill who pushed her horse into a gallop in order to catch up with the redhead. 

“Claire!” Jill called out leaning down to increase her speed towards her until she was now riding beside Claire and the other stallion. Claire tried to look at Jill but she could only grunt when she fell on her belly into the saddle groaning from the pain of the harsh impact until she righted herself on him. Finding the seat she slipped her feet to either side of the horse and she strained against him until she managed to slow the running beast down. 

Breathing out heavily Claire’s chest rose and fell from the rush as Jill’s horse slowed next to hers. Hearing more trotting Claire slowly turned to look at Rebecca and Ben who looked a little ridiculous behind her because of their size difference. Easily dwarfing Rebecca, Claire could not help but laugh at the absurdity. 

Glancing to Claire with concern, Jill moved to tap her shoulder and Claire paused her laughing to look at her. Sighing softly Claire looked back at what had caused the run off with a frown. 

“That may have been my fault.” She said moving to touch the blonde mane of the stallion she was on as she spoke. 

“That one fellow probably had more scum for friends.” Ben said, taking her attention away from Jill when he spoke. Claire nodded her head unsure if it was because of the attacker or not. Not wishing to bring up her reputation she kept quiet for a time being until they all decided to continue on their journey to Rio Bravo. Having heard the stories of Bill Williamson and other outlaws from the past, Claire could only hope they were not riding into a gang hideout. 

Knowing her luck despite the fact the people she had suddenly been thrown into seemed to know their way around the guns in their holsters, a bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach that something seriously wrong was about to happen. The incident in town and the crazed gunslingers riding after them aside, Claire hoped her bad luck wouldn’t end up getting these nice people hurt.


	2. Deals and Bounties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and the others settle into Fort Mercer as she meets a man named Barry Burton and his daughter Moira for the first time. After settling in Jill and Claire strike a deal of cooperation even though Claire continues to keep her reasons for being there and her plans secret. Three days later after helping Jill, Ben, and Rebecca track a bounty by the name of Raymond Vester to Pike's Basin, they enter the gang hideout only for a shootout to occur going wrong for one of them in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To me even in 1917, Moira would be as free spirited as ever and cussing like a sailor the whole time too. I hope you liked the look into Barry and Moira because there will be a lot more of them and of course, Claire, Jill, Rebecca and Ben. I think I skipped the three days because I was eager for action but I will definitely go into more of their interaction and as to why the moon is suddenly green. 
> 
> I hope you still like Jill, I might have made her more bold than I intended there but someone's gotta work on those fortress high walls Claire has up right?
> 
> Oh and take a guess which character might end up british. xD

July 20th, 1917

The ride had been largely uneventful after their last encounter with the angry men, but ultimately Claire was glad for the peaceful ride. For once she did not have to constantly look behind her back with fear that any minute she was going to be shot or brought into a brawl. People tended to have a strong desire to fight a woman that looked like her as if the scars on her face were a sign that said she lived and breathed the roughest kind of life. The sad truth she supposed was the wounds she has been inflicted was because of the lifestyle she led, but now Claire felt she wanted to put her conflicting past behind her and move on to a calmer life. 

Until she found Christopher however she was unsure if it would be possible to escape the life she’s been living. Marrying some man in order to secure a life seemed like the last thing she wanted to do, so Claire held onto the hope her brother was truly not dead somewhere. It also gave her some comfort in the midst of her worries to think that the only person in the world who cared about her was still alive. Christopher had kept her alive in their youth and he had taught her everything from how to ride a horse to how to shoot a gun. She owed him everything in her mind and finding him is something she had to do. 

“Claire.” Jill said snapping her out of her thoughts and the redhead moved her head from Jill’s back upon realizing she had almost dozed off on her. Trying to choke down her growing embarrassment she responded after hearing her name. 

“Yes ma’am?” She said with a secret smile she knew Jill could not see. 

“What brings you here? You mentioned you used to live here.” Jill said in a low tone while they had slowed down their horses to a trot as the sun dipped down towards the horizon and painted the sky in yellows instead of blues. Puffy white clouds dotted the sky and once it had passed the twilight hour, Claire knew the sky would be littered with what had to be more than hundreds of stars in a canvass of blue and grey. 

“I just missed home.” Claire answered in a similarly low tone uncertain if she could trust perfect strangers with her real reasons and intentions. Setting her hands on her own legs she stretched her neck to the left as the dark horse under them moved. Repeated taps of hooves hit the dirt path and Claire listened to it like it was her own heartbeat. 

“No offense but this place is not exactly daisies.” Snorting slightly at the phrase Claire shrugged her shoulders as she popped her neck to the right. 

“You could grow to love it, as you can see the people are just charming.” Claire laughed out glancing at Ben and Rebecca. Ben was gazing up at the sky whereas Rebecca had her eyes trained on the two of them. Knowing she had been looking at them, she felt a curious smile rise when Rebecca shifted her grassy green eyes off into another direction. 

“You’re not too bad.” Jill laughed back, slowing down her horse when they went over a hill and she noticed Jill’s back tense when she took in Fort Mercer from the distance. It was several yards away from them but Claire knew the old fort likely had people roaming about in it. The structure loomed in the distance and the tan concrete lowered her smile. She had never heard anything good about Fort Mercer. 

“They might not be as nice as I am.” Claire remarked pausing when Ben pulled out binoculars to get a closer look at who was within the fort. 

“Burton should be in there. How do we tell?” Ben asked Jill as he stopped his horse next to them. Looking to see Rebecca on the other side of Ben, Claire felt confusion rise as to why they were coming here of all places. A fort she supposed would be important to the law, but during war time she figured the army would be using it for training. 

“Why don’t you go and ask ‘em? Should I get off here?” Claire piped up interrupting the silent debate the three were having and Rebecca smiled upon hearing this. 

“Well as a matter of fact we could use someone of your caliber to go and say hello…” Rebecca remarked and Claire immediately shook her head with a frown. 

“What the hell are you bringing me into? A place or no place to live, I ain’t suicidal.” Claire scoffed out biting her lip when Jill turned her head to look at her. 

“We’d never purposely put you in danger. You’re in good hands Claire.” Jill said in such a confident manner she felt her resolve slowly melting away like ice cream out in the sun. 

Frustration at who these people were and who they thought they were, Claire could not help but glare at them. Feeling a hand touch her arm, Claire’s face reddened when she looked to Jill’s gloved hand which was touching her bicep. 

A slight smile rose when she saw the shocked expression on Jill’s face when she noticed the muscle Claire had. Brushing Jill’s hand off of her, Claire sighed in aggravation. 

“This place better be worth it or I will leave you to fend for your damn selves.” Claire growled out feeling a warmth grow in her stomach when Jill smiled at her. 

Slipping off of the stallion, Claire moved to dip down her hat only to realize she had lost it during her fall from Jill’s horse. Sighing softly she flexed her gloved fingers to calm herself down and she received a nod from Rebecca which increased her stride. Grabbing her revolver she reloaded it using her ammo bandolier that she had quickly slung across her chest. As she made the walk up the green and yellow hill leading to the large brown doors of the fort, tension rose that this was some kind of cruel trap when a man above her stepped into view. Lifting up her hand Claire waved hoping they would be hesitant about shooting first before asking questions. 

“Who are you?” A gruff voice called out and Claire felt a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she knew that voice. Unable to tell what he exactly looked like besides that he had a beard and was wearing a red vest and black duster, Claire pushed the feeling away attributing it to the fact a lot of men she knew sounded like that. 

“Claire Redfield, I’m a friend of Jill Valentine’s. I'm willing to bet you know that name?” She hollered up brushing her long hair to the side since the heat and sweat was building on her face as she waited for the man with the rifle to respond. 

Hearing a chuckle she sighed when he ordered his men to open the doors. Relieved that this was indeed not some kind of setup, Claire set her revolver into her holster and she turned when the horses trotted up behind her. Glancing over at Jill, Rebecca, and Ben she refrained from glaring at them since they had pushed her into putting her life in danger for no reason. Then she realized Jill had a rifle in her hand which meant she would have likely taken the first shot if something had gone wrong. Stepping out of the way, Claire made a motioning gesture for them to pass but instead they dropped off of their horses and moved to latch them onto nearby posts. 

Watching as Jill petted the dark stallion’s head she glanced back over to the fort choosing to fall in step behind them as the large doors were pushed open by a burly man with medium length dark hair. Passing by the man with brief greetings Claire fell in step with the others despite the growing dread in her stomach. She did not quite know what it was about this place but even with Jill, Rebecca, and Ben here she did not know these people from Adam. 

“Becca, what the hell are you doing here?” A female’s voice called out that caught Claire attention when a shorter girl with brown hair came running up to them. She had amber colored eyes that nearly matched the sunset as she moved to wrap her arms around the woman she had called out. Rebecca appeared amused as she moved to wrap an arm around the girl who looked to be the same height as herself. 

“Moira, best manners now we have a guest with us.” Rebecca said with a laugh gesturing to Claire who was standing behind Jill. Moira blushed pink upon seeing Claire and she moved to hide part of her face with her hand. Moira as she had been called looked a lot younger and skinnier than the others so Claire figured she had to be around 15 or 16 years old at most. 

“Aw shit, you know how good I am with people. Don’t get your knickers all bunched up.” Moira said and Claire found herself smiling. 

“Knickers? Where in the hell did you learn that word?” Ben laughed out moving to mess with Moira’s hair which shifted her face from its pretty pink to an aggravated red. Rolling her eyes at Ben she fixed her hair that he had messed up. 

“Brits have visited the fort a few times. I think they’re hanging around some fuckin’ place.” A deep voice said and they turned all of their attention from Moira to the man. Claire squinted slightly since he looked familiar but she still could not place him besides the fact he was the man she had first seen when she approached the fort. 

“Why are you mad at them Barry? I thought you wanted to move to Canada. In case you have forgotten that is their neighborhood.” Jill laughed out moving with a small smile as she patted the older man’s arm. Claire watched silently noticing how familiar they were but she was unsure of their connection. 

The man named Barry laughed aloud and he scoffed, “Just being patriotic Jill, never forget where you come from.” 

“Who’s this?” Barry questioned turning his face from Jill to Claire who was now looking off bored in another direction. 

“Claire, she was our guide and she's a new friend.” Rebecca piped up moving to set an arm around Claire which caused the redhead to tense. Somehow she felt a little exposed without her hat which she often used to hide her expressions. 

“They didn’t throw me in a jail so-” Claire chuckled, noticing Barry’s rise of the eyebrow before he settled to a neutral expression. 

“Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine. Welcome to Fort Mercer. I’m acting in a military capacity here.” He said turning to look around as people milled around. A few were wearing green uniforms while others looked to be women and children. 

“You’ve been taking in refugees from Mexico I hear.” Rebecca called out looking to a family that was huddled together while a man who looked to be a guard walked with his rifle in his hands. 

Barry turned to nod his head, “Yes, a World War implies we’re all involved one way or another. I won’t bore you with the details but you’re all welcome to stay. We’ll talk about the men you’re looking for later.” He went on to say glancing to Moira who suddenly darted off towards a door. 

“Thanks Captain Burton. It’s mighty appreciated.” Ben said with a charming smile while Barry glanced at him with a frown. 

“Burton or Barry, don’t wear out any of that sir or Captain shit.” He said before he walked away.

“I told you not to be too formal with him.” Jill said with a smile and Ben sighed putting a hand to his face like he was embarrassed. 

“Come on Claire, you’re staying with me. We’ll get you settled.” Rebecca said with an enthusiasm Claire tried not to be confused by. 

“Thank you, I guess.” Claire whispered out looking to Jill as Rebecca pulled her away with a swiftness that surprised her. 

“You motherfucker! That’s cheating.” Moira cursed out slamming her cards down as she glared over at Ben who was grinning at her like a cheshire cat. 

“All’s fair in love and war hun.” He called out setting down his royal flush.

Claire was watching from a nearby table as she drank some whiskey unable to keep the amusement from bubbling to the surface. Now that she had a place to stay she felt a lot calmer than she had when she first arrived in Armadillo and yet the uneasiness of her upcoming journey would not leave her.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Jill questioned pulling a chair out beside her that she chose not to glance at. Taking a sip from the decent whiskey Claire set her glass down and she watched the brown liquid slosh in the glass. 

“My thoughts are worth even less but I can spill if you want.” Claire grumbled out looking at Jill through the reflection of her glass so she would not react to how close the other woman was to her. 

“You’re doing an awful lot of brooding as far as I can tell. I have to say I have never seen someone like you.” Jill commented somehow right on the dot even though she did not know her. 

Claire grimaced before she managed a smirk, “You need to work on your flattery Miss Valentine, that almost sounded like an insult.”

Turning her head she was face to face with Jill who’s powerful blue eyes drilled into her and yet she did not feel threatened by it since it was not an intimidation tactic like others would use on her. Based upon the expression on Jill’s face she seemed more curious than anything and Claire would go as far to say intrigued but she did not want to risk the ego boost. 

“You’d know when I was complimenting you Claire.” Jill rebutted with a rising smile that she could not help but return. Realizing this Claire put up her walls and she turned to look back at her glass. 

“What if I said I could help you and that you could help me in return.” Jill said and the tension thickened when she shifted closer to Claire. Face reddening at this Claire glanced back over to her with surprise when Jill touched her knee. 

“Wow there Miss. That’s bold of you to assume.” Claire said retracting from her like a rattlesnake had just bitten her. Jill laughed in response which confused her and seemed to confuse Moira who looked over to them before she shifted her glance back to the game she was trying to win. 

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to see you react and stop looking sad like that. I won’t do that ever again.” Jill said with promise lifting up her hand with an apologetic look in her eyes. 

“I meant that in a serious manner and not in the manner it had come across.” Claire, still blushing, tried to regain her composure despite how tempting Jill’s apparent offer had sounded. Claire groaned internally once this thought crossed her mind because she was already treading dangerous waters hanging around policemen and women of all people. 

“W-What did you mean?” Claire asked her face reddening further when she stuttered. 

“I think you’re searching for something here and I think we could help. In return, you have the law behind your back and you could assist us in finding a few rough and tumble characters.” Jill said her sentence drifted as Claire gathered and calmed upon listening. 

Taking a sip of her drink Claire seemed to mull it over in her mind before she replied. 

“Do I look like a bounty hunter to you?” She questioned with a squint and it was Jill’s turn to blush. 

“Well I mean-you have a look about you.” Jill said appearing ashamed when Claire frowned at her. 

“Always assumin’ no wonder I don’t get along with you people.” Claire scoffed out before she grinned wiping away the worried look in Jill’s eyes. 

“I’m kidding, of course I know my way around bounties. I don’t mind helping and maybe that would do me good to do something good.” Claire sighed out touching her bangs for a moment as she looked around the tan room they were in. No one else seemed to be up besides Ben and Moira that is until she saw Rebecca walk by with a wave. 

“If it’s any consolation I think there’s a lot of good in you.” Jill commented and Claire looked at her with a raised brow knowing she was looking right through her act. Feeling exposed in a different way she cleared her throat. 

“A favor is a favor is all I will say.” Claire responded leaning to finish her drink when Jill moved to stand. 

“It’s a deal then.” Jill said, offering her hand which Claire took as she stood as well. Face to face again the two women shook hands and they shared mutual smiles. 

“I’m tired of this shit. I wanna see Claire beat your ass.” Moira called out and Claire let go off Jill’s hand to look at the younger girl. 

She smirked and she walked over to the two of them. “I can play a game or two before bed. Wanna join?” Claire asked Jill who nodded as she brushed her long hair past her shoulder. 

“Why not but we’re not doing this all night.” 

Unbeknownst to the people within the fort the sky was shifting from a blue to a glowing green as the air changed direction, something seemingly amiss with the land but unnoticed to its inhabitants. Animals outside of the fort ran around in fright as dirt was beginning to be disturbed around graves. The unsettling feeling Claire had felt that night may have been caused by the strange hue of moonlight that flitted through the window as she rolled restlessly on the bed as nightmares attacked her throughout the night. 

July 23rd.

Claire rubbed at her eyes as she looked through the binoculars trying to spot around the basin they were within for anyone. The longer she stared the darker it became as the strange grey clouds appeared above them further obscuring the light they needed to see. 

“Well this is not proving useful.” Claire sighed out handing the binoculars back to Ben who tried in vain to see far down below the rocks they were currently hiding behind. 

“Maybe Becca can see them with her rifle.” Ben sighed out glancing up without the binoculars to where he knew Rebecca was laying above them with a sniper rifle to provide them cover fire if they ended up alerting anyone. 

“The target, what is the name again?” Claire asked, gripping her Winchester repeater as she squinted ahead in the dark in irritation. The waiting game was necessary she realized after they had tracked after this bounty for two days but it was testing her patience and desire to run in guns blazing. Quickly Claire had learned her way of doing things was opposite Jill’s which tended to be stealthy and precise. 

“Raymond Vester. He’s a high valued target but we want him alive. Feds want this sonofabitch and he’s been known to run with the Dalton and the Bollard Twins gang from time to time.” Jill answered sneaking up behind Claire which had accelerated her heartbeat until she looked to the woman behind her. 

“What gang are we looking at here? The Dalton’s love me in the East.” Claire snorted with sarcasm and Jill huffed refraining from rolling her eyes playfully as she focused her attention ahead. 

“It’s a new gang that’s been formed throughout the Midwest. I haven’t caught a name yet through any chatter though.” Jill replied tapping Claire and Ben’s shoulder when one of the members down below started to make his way up the hill towards them. 

Looking at the black bandana around his neck Claire kept herself hidden as Ben slid to the next rock over trying to hide his large form behind it. Claire kept her eyes trained to the shadows and the green light of the moon when the member’s footsteps made themselves known. Picking up dirt and dust the man stopped and he yawned before he unzipped his pants. Without saying a word and finding he was distracted Claire watched and she held in her breath when Jill moved in a crouched position towards him with her silver knife out. It glinted underneath the moonlight before Jill stabbed it into the man’s neck and she grabbed his mouth to conceal his shout. Taking him down to the ground as quietly as she could Claire concealed an impressed smile. It seemed as if Jill could have been an assassin in another life if she were not so concerned about people. The past few days had been interesting for Claire since she was unused to working with others but more and more she liked having someone having her back instead of having to constantly look behind it distrustfully. Regardless she continued to dodge questions about her reasons for needing their help despite the deal she had struck up with Jill. 

Shaking away the thoughts Claire moved when Ben touched her shoulder to get her attention. Looking down the way she noticed Jill was halfway down before she began to follow with Ben close behind her. Shrugging past him when he got too close Claire sucked in a breath when a man walked beside her having not even seen her there. Shouldering the rifle she pulled out her own knife before she jumped onto his back and she stabbed him in the neck cutting into his jugular vein. He managed a peep of a sound but he was quickly silenced by the dirt when his face impacted it. 

Trying not to think too much of the sight of blood all over her knife and gloves Claire lifted from him and she tensed when a shout was heard nearby. 

“Kill ‘em! Kill ‘em all!” A man shouted out and Claire jumped into a roll behind a rock, her heart pounding against her chest since they had somehow been alerted. Briefly wondering where Jill and Ben were her attention was taken by the top of the basin as the crack of sniper fire filled the air. 

Suddenly a shout of pain rang through the air in the midst of the rolling gunfire that turned Claire’s attention from Rebecca to Jill. Having been in proximity with them she recognized the shout of Jill’s which despite her better judgement lifted her from her cover spot. 

Pulling out her revolver Claire fired at two men in front of them as she ran bullets whizzing past her as she pushed her body forward. It was dark and chaotic as flashes of gunfire illuminated her and the men but she pressed on sliding past a thudding body she had managed to hit. 

Shock ran through Claire when she saw a man pinning Jill to the ground and rage grew within her chest when she saw that he was choking her. Glancing at the man who was walking towards them with his gun raised she shot him in the chest in a quick draw before she pummeled into the man choking Jill. Knocking the large dark haired man whose face was covered Claire punched him hard in the chest even as they rolled in a tussle. 

“I’m gonna kill you and that bitch too.” He growled out landing a punch into Claire’s chin that briefly stunned her because of the force. Having managed to knock his gun away she kicked him in the shin before she aimed her gun at his chest. 

“Somehow I doubt that.” Claire growled out pulling the trigger when she pressed it to him and he soon slumped to the ground gasping when blood pooled around his back and his wound. Groaning from the burn of being hit Claire pushed herself off of him to check on Jill shooting another man nearby as she ran to her. 

Her glinting silver star greeted her as she grabbed Jill’s shoulders and lifted her up, her face falling into a frown when she saw Jill’s shirt was drenched in dark red blood. Using the moonlight which was now present as the clouds drifted from the moon, Claire grimaced upon seeing the gunshot in Jill’s shoulder. 

“A little overzealous this time.” Jill croaked out with pain and Claire felt a little relief that she wasn’t dead and yet the pale expression on Jill’s face offered her no comfort. 

“Come on now supercop. Wouldn’t do us any good dead.” Claire said helping Jill to stand before she pulled her to cover watching around for any men since the gunfire was still popping as Ben and Rebecca kept on their assault on what was left of the gang. 

“Did not see Vester anywhere. He must have fled when the gunfight started.” Jill groaned out as Claire removed her vest to get a better look at the gunshot. Claire tried to keep a neutral expression as she looked her over but Jill appeared to pick up on her tension. 

“How bad is it?” She asked with slight worry while Claire shook her head pressing her hand to the wound to stop it from bleeding further. It burned like she was on fire but Jill likely had chosen not to be vocal about it. 

“You’ll live.” Claire whispered, nodding her head to Jill who’s eyes unfocused for a moment. Slapping her gently in the face Claire regained her attention before she ripped the sleeve out of her red shirt revealing her scarred bicep. 

Keeping her focus on Jill’s gunshot wound she appeared relieved to see the bullet. It had entered partially and looked to have damaged her skin and a little of her muscle but it did not look like a more serious injury beyond that. 

“You’ll be okay.” Claire went on to say as she wrapped Jill’s injury with her makeshift bandage taking care to look around so no one could sneak up on them. To her relief they were further away from the fight which had started to lessen and move as Ben and Rebecca closed in on them. 

Suddenly hoof steps entered her ears and Claire tensed upon finishing the wrap. Glancing up from Jill’s shoulder to the man on the horse who to her relief was Barry. 

He was holding a sawed off shotgun and he called out for Jill who answered back upon hearing no more gunfire. Riding over to them with haste on a large and scarred brown horse Barry looked down with a grim frown on his features. 

“Jill got shot but it’s not too serious. Could use treatment from a doctor though.” Claire called out receiving a swift nod from Barry before he shifted off the horse to help Jill onto it. Making certain she would not fall off Claire whistled for Jill’s horse who came in a hurry, thudding hooves echoing through the basin as Ben and Rebecca showed up in similar stances to Barry. 

Sliding onto Jill’s horse, Starbuck, Claire patted its loyal head as she pulled it to follow Barry and the others. Looking to the dead men scattered throughout and the glittering of guns near them Claire sighed as worry edged its way in her heart. 

She did not know Jill well or much at all but she could not help this growing feeling inside of her chest. Claire could not name it and did not care too but perhaps caring for others was not so bad, but she would prefer for them to not get shot. 

Watching as Jill clung onto Barry and the red piece of shirt around her shoulder she hid her concern when Rebecca and Ben asked her about it. 

“Don’t worry, she’s a tough one. You should know better than me.” Claire said with a dismissive wave as they rode their horses back towards Fort Mercer.


	3. Riley's Charge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Jill grow a little closer after Claire shares something from her past and her reasons for being in the West when all hell breaks loose within the Fort. The nightmare of the undead becomes a reality when Claire and Jill find out Barry is not within the Fort's protected walls. Searching for Barry after being pointed to Riley's Charge by Moira, they come across a girl named Ashley Graham in an overturned wagon. In an old battlefield they fight for their lives as they try to free Barry and his daughter Polly from the undead horde swarming around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a dark trauma moment here. Claire has a nightmare about a very disturbing memory that is related to the loss of parent tag. 
> 
> Jill is rather comfortable with her sexuality for an early 20th century woman but that's just because she knows a gay when she sees one. X'D Claire for example and I do not think her best friend Rebecca would have any issues with it. I have Rebecca discretely shipping the two of them anyways lol. Poor Ben had it rough in this chapter and I did not quite explore it but I hope to in the next chapter. He may be a side character but he's a part of the team too. (He might become an issue later if you got the hints I was dropping.)
> 
> I feel like no matter what helping and healing is an important part of Rebecca's character so having medical experience of some kind seemed natural. Barry is a badass in my opinion so holding off a zombie horde, no big deal right? XD

July 25th 

Jill hissed in pain as Rebecca used the tweezers to remove the bullet from her arm. Grunting with a cloth in her mouth Jill grimaced as Rebecca worked to clean the gunshot wound. Stopping near the door Claire knocked and she blinked when Rebecca moved to open the door. 

“Oh hello Claire.” Rebecca said with a small smile before she moved next to where Jill was sitting. A knife was embedded in the wood of the table and Claire raised a brow at it before she moved to sit to the left of Jill. 

“Hey there.” Claire greeted out, extending her greeting to Jill who looked from her arm to Claire upon hearing her voice. 

Spitting out the cloth Jill relaxed her arm as Rebecca moved to wrap it. One of her favorite shirts had been ripped in order to treat her shoulder but it was small stuff compared to the wound that had needed treating. Not trusting anyone as well as Rebecca she was glad she had learned a few things from her uncle who was a doctor. Claire’s eyes fell to the piece of bullet that was a small tin before she looked back up to Jill. 

“Hurts like a bitch but you get a hell of a scar.” Claire said and Jill laughed. 

“I take it you have been shot before?” Jill asked, as Rebecca tightened the bandage around her arm. 

“Plenty of times but they usually miss.” Claire joked out, moving to lean with her arms crossed onto the table. 

“Did you come here to impress Jill with your gun fighting prowess or are you here to ask her how she’s doing?” Rebecca suddenly said and Claire’s face reddened subtly at the tease. Jill’s lips upturned into a smirk and Claire tried to frown. 

“How are you Jill?” Claire asked with a slight groan when the women laughed. 

“I’ve been better but you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Jill laughed out and Claire looked away when she realized what was happening. She was unsure of what Jill knew about her but when it was just them Jill was rather blatant with her flirting. Rebecca did not seem fazed by this so she supposed Rebecca was well aware of Jill’s preference. This was made a certainty when Rebecca let it slip a couple days ago that Jill was interested in women and Claire remembers the embarrassment of choking on her whiskey. 

“I brought you this.” Claire grumbled out setting the bottle of rum onto the table and Jill smiled at the sight. 

“My favorite.” Jill commented, moving to grab it and take a sip while Rebecca finished working on Jill’s arm. 

“Rest and be easy on it for a few days and you should be fine.” Rebecca said and the sternness of her tone left no room for argument. 

“Yes ma’am.” Jill teased and Rebecca rolled her grassy green eyes in response before she stood and she collected the tin. Taking the drink from Jill she took a sip before she set it down. 

“Don’t stay up all night you two.” Rebecca chastised and Claire smiled and she shook her head at her. 

“She really cares about you.” Claire remarked when Rebecca left and Jill nodded brushing her long hair from her shoulder as she took another drink. 

“She’s taken care of me since we were kids. I think she was always meant to be a doctor but she did not want me to go off on my own, so here we are.” Jill said, tapping her fingers against the table. Taking off Jill's hat, Claire set it down onto the table and she smirked when Jill looked at her in confusion. 

“What?” Jill questioned when she noticed that Claire was just staring at her without saying anything. Eyes tracing the scars on Claire’s face, she tensed when Claire tilted her head, her long red hair brushing against her own shoulder as she let her bangs fall into her face. 

“I think I’ve drank too much because you’re really pretty.” Claire said and Jill slapped her on the arm playfully. 

“Now Miss Redfield, that almost sounded like an insult.” Jill teased out, her smile growing when Claire shifted closer to her. 

“I’ve waited four days to tell you that. It’s not an insult.” Claire admitted and Jill noticed the sway in her expression. Surprised slightly that she hadn’t noticed the other woman’s intoxication she raised a brow when Claire leaned to lay her head onto the table while she looked at Jill. Her stare made heat rise on Jill’s tan face and it grew when Claire smiled at her. 

“I never said thank you for saving me back there.” Jill said, watching as Claire hair splayed out across the table and she closed her eyes for a moment. She looked peaceful in this moment and Jill decided she liked it when Claire looked like that because for the most part she was always frowning or looking off somewhere else like she had a lot on her mind. 

“That’s nothing. You basically hired me to help you and you’ve given me a place to stay and food to eat…” Claire said and her voice was not slurring despite the cloudiness of her eyes. 

“I appreciate it all the same. Most hired help wouldn’t have minded looting my dead body.” Jill commented, setting her left hand onto her head so she could lean on it. 

“I guess I’m not like most people.” Claire laughed out and Jill had to agree. 

“No, you’re something else.” She remarked and Claire sucked in a breath when she managed to lock gazes with Jill. Heart thumping hard in her chest she resisted the urge to get closer to Jill which increased when Ben appeared into the room unannounced. 

“Howdy, how are you feelin’?” Ben asked moving to sit across from Claire but she continued to stare at Jill when she turned to answer him. Noticing this unbeknownst to Claire and Jill, Ben frowned as his eyes flicked between the two of them. 

July 28th

Claire awoke in the bed trembling and sweating. Parting the hair stuck to her face she looked around the dark room as her heart thumped the only sound, the creaking of the wood of the cabin she was within. Shifting from her bed, blue eyes stared through the darkness and confusion settled in her chest. She was back home. 

Glancing around the familiar room Claire moved to light an old oil lamp with a match and the warm orange darted around the room lighting up the wood of the walls and the white of the sheets of her bed. It was a small bed which barely fit her quick growing size. She had hit a growing spurt early even though she was only 12 years old. 

Blinking her eyes as the sweat dripped down her face, the young version of herself stood from her bed the creaking of the bed frames familiar but old to her mind. 

“Mama?” She heard her own voice call out and her heart thumped harder as she prepared her mind for the next moment to come. 

Screaming. Loud and shrill filled the air in such a violence Claire jumped and nearly ran into the wall. Sounds of thumping and screaming echoed throughout the house as she opened her door and ran through the hallway towards her Mama’s room. Red hair in braids pictured in her mind as well as eyes as green as the grass. They were soft and warm but when she next saw them they were dark and filled with terror.

“Mama!” She shouted out despite her fear and the looming shadow of a man turned from beating her mother’s face until it was black and blue to look at the young girl in the doorway. Most of his face was obscured from sight but Claire could see the coldness of his dark blue gaze and she shuddered in reaction unsure of what was going to happen next until a voice shouted for her to run. 

The initial reaction despite this was to run to her Mother and protect her, but even if she had wanted to move Claire was rooted to the spot paralyzed with fear. 

“Claire, love get out of here! Go to your brother!” Her mother’s voice said again and she moved to walk into the room when there was a sudden and loud crack as if the Earth itself was going to fall apart beneath their feet. Claire felt a cold numbness settle in when she heard the sound of bone cracking and the sight of blood splatter hit the walls. Soon the ringing of her ears was so loud she could no longer hear much of anything. 

The sight of her body falling remained burned into her mind but it was soon obscured by an arm as a man pulled her from the sight and away from the looming shadow. She remembers struggling against her brother as she got glimpses of the man who remained transfixed to the sight of her mother’s head as it pooled with blood. 

“Mama! Mama! No!” Claire cried out with messy wet tears as she struggled against the arms around her but he was much stronger than her. 

“Claire, you stay here okay? I’ll take care of it, you hear. Stay hidden for me.” Her brother’s voice said into her ear, powerful and unafraid but she had been unable to hear anything he had said. Despite this Claire knew it was her brother when he pushed her into a closet and she shivered when he looked at her. It was a calm look in his eyes that worked to raise the beat of her heart. Somehow she knew exactly what her brother was going to do but she could only cover her ears when he pulled out a rifle. Words again had fallen again from his lips but Claire did not hear anything even as Christopher’s lips moved. 

“No.” Claire whispered with fear, her heart pounding so painfully she had to clutch her own chest. Moving into a ball on the floor Claire clinched her eyes shut and she jumped when she could hear again the repeated shouts of the rifle echoing within the house. 1, 2, 3, 4 shots as loud as thunder but relief could not befall her since she had no idea whose shots they were. Fear that her brother was now dead crawled into her mind and she cried into her arms unable to bear the long wait she had in the closet. When footsteps eventually tapped against the wooden floor she covered her mouth and waited.

Sobbing into her mouth and trying to muffle the cries, Claire shivered when the footsteps stopped in front of the closet. Looking to see a tall shadowed man she felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck when they moved to open the closet door. 

Tensely the seconds ticked away until the figure opened the door and she was exposed but the sight of her brother greeted her instead. Relief flooding through her she jumped to hug him noticing quickly despite the darkness of the closet her brother was bleeding, but he showed no concern over it as he hugged his little sister whispering she would be okay and that he loved her. Tightening her hold Claire sobbed into Christopher’s shoulder as his rifle fell to the wayside onto the floor. 

“M-Mama?” Her voice cried out in question and her heart felt like it had died when she received no answer. 

“Is she…?” She questioned because even though she knew what happened it did not seem real to her. It couldn’t have been real but soon with care and as much gentleness as her brother could muster he told her the truth. 

“She’s not coming back.” 

“Claire.” Her brother said next and she continued to cry, unable to process what he had said. 

“Claire.” He repeated but she could not answer because she was wracked with sobs. 

“Wake up.” Confused by this she sank deeper into her brother’s hold clinging to his bloody shirt and dipping her fingers into the red when he moved to touch her shoulder. 

“Claire!?” Then she was awake and she screamed aloud again like she had been for the past half hour when she grabbed the shadowed person above her and she slammed them off the bed into the floor. Without thinking about who the attacker was Claire pulled her knife from her belt and she held it to their neck just about to sink it in when she looked down at them. The room was dark as it was nearing the early hours of the dawn but the green moonlight had filtered in to give her just enough light to see the woman she was about to kill. Fear shot through her and Claire tensed when she realized who it was. 

“R-Rebecca?” She questioned out with surprise looking to see the unbridled fear that was in her green eyes in that moment. Slowly moving the blade from Rebecca’s neck she remained over her as she gripped the knife. Breathing heavily she stared at Rebecca who stared back until she moved off of the poor woman to sit next to the bed she had been lying on. 

“I-I’m sorry…” Claire whispered out hearing the sound of running which had likely been spurred on by Rebecca’s shout. Sitting up Rebecca touched her neck as Ben, Jill, and Moira ran in to see what the commotion was about. 

“What happened?” Ben called out in panic looking to the two of them in confusion as he struggled to button up his overalls over his dress shirt. His revolver was clutched in his hand and Claire soon noticed both he and Jill were armed. Seeing that the knife was still firm in her grasp Claire set it to the floor beside her, fighting back tears as they threatened to leak from her eyes. 

“Nothing, we’re fine. Claire was just having a nightmare and I shouldn’t have woken her up.” Rebecca explained looking to Claire with sympathy when she looked from the others back to her. 

“Are you okay Claire? I woke up when I heard you crying.” Rebecca said in a soft tone but Claire continued to shake, not liking one bit that there were so many people in this one room. Struggling to answer Claire opened her mouth but no words had managed to escape from her mouth.

Seeming to realize the situation Jill gestured for Ben and Moira to leave with which Ben did reluctantly and Moira gave Claire and Rebecca a look of concern before she left. Jill offered them a thankful smile before she tucked her revolver into her holster moving quietly to Claire and Rebecca as she did so. 

Leaning down beside them Jill winced momentarily and she stretched her shoulder which was still sore from days before. Claire continued to stare ahead as if the two of them were not there until she felt Jill touch her shoulder. It was a slow and gentle touch almost as if her fingers had not brushed her shirt but Claire turned to look at her in response. Wet tears leaked from her face even though she hated to cry in front of others and she looked at Jill’s sympathetic stare as the nightmare and memory crashed through her mind. Feeling warm fingers tighten on her shoulder Claire leaned her head back into the bed behind her as she listened to the sound of them breathing. 

“Just a nightmare...nothing to worry about. Honest.” Claire eventually whispered but the two women around her did not seem so easily convinced. 

“Would you like to talk about it?” Jill tried her voice soft and firm and oddly it reminded her of her brother before she shifted to glance at Rebecca. Noticing the red cut into her neck she felt guilt rise until Rebecca shook her head at her picking up on the look in her eyes. 

“Do not worry about it. I’m going to get you something to drink.” Rebecca said with a small smile and she stood from her place on the floor and she tapped Jill’s back when she walked by her. Moving closer to Claire, Jill slipped beside her and she sat close enough to feel the warmth radiating off of Claire but not close enough to brush their shoulders together. 

“I was mute for two years.” Claire suddenly said keeping her stare from Jill even though she felt a desire to look at her. Keeping it at bay she looked ahead to the tan wall of the fort bedroom they were within as she spoke. It was warm and uncomfortable inside as the windows covers barely kept out the heat but luckily during the night it cooled off and there was an occasional breeze. Sweat dripping and mixing with the tears falling down Claire’s face she moved to wipe them away. 

“Two years?” Jill questioned needlessly and Claire nodded a bitter laugh threatening to leak past her lips. 

“People just thought I was dumb but they let me work on their farms for a few years...I was 15 when I was able to speak again.” Claire went on to say closing her eyes briefly. 

“You lived on your own?” Jill asked in a whisper and Claire shook her head. 

“No, I have an older brother. He’s five years older than me so he managed to get us work.” Claire revealed, keeping her eyes closed to hide the pain. 

“So what happened?” Jill said and Claire opened her eyes when she felt Jill touch her arm. Looking to Jill’s hand, Claire managed a weak smile in reply, her eyes falling to the star that had been on Jill’s vest but just now she was only wearing a blue collared shirt tucked into her dusty black pants. Based upon the unwrinkled material Claire realized Jill had likely not been asleep when the incident with Rebecca had occured. Claire breathed out and heat dusted her face when Jill met her stare but then her gaze dropped from her face to the floor. 

“They arrested him for murder but he was only protecting me.” Claire went on to say her thoughts drifting until she looked back to Jill. 

“I’m here to find my brother. I did not tell you because of who you work for, I think the federal government may be responsible for this…” Claire was seething slightly until she turned to grab Jill’s arm. She did not appear threatened but Claire’s stare turned serious. 

“Christopher is an innocent man and I will kill anyone who gets in my way.” Claire stated but she felt her heart thump when Jill offered her a nod. 

“I’m not going to go to my superiors about this Claire.” Jill whispered, moving to touch Claire’s wrist. Feeling how fast Claire’s heart was thumping she offered her a gentle smile. 

“A deal is a deal but you do need to know this…” Jill went on to say watching when Claire removed her hand from her arm. Raising a brow Claire waited for Jill to speak when Moira burst into the room. 

“Something’s wrong with Jeremiah! Come on!” Hearing how panicked Moira sounded both Claire and Jill stood. Looking to each other for a brief second, Claire moved to grab her revolver before she followed after Jill and Moira. Unsure of what was happening she heard Moira’s breathing increase as they followed her down the second floor down the steps to the front of the fort where a gruesome sight greeted them. 

Blood was everywhere and Claire stopped beside Jill when they saw a man contorting his body in odd directions as he screamed at the people near him. Blood was all over his clothes and his face and she moved to put a hand over her face when she realized the body in front of him was dead. A woman who he appeared to have eaten and the smell of death greeted her soon after. 

“Jeremiah! What the hell are you doing?!” One of the nearby soldiers shouted as he neared the bloodied man who screamed at him when he got too close. Aiming his rifle at the crazed man the soldier made certain the crowd stayed away. 

“Jeremiah!” Another voice shouted and Claire turned to see Ben who had his black revolver in his hand. Hearing the familiar voice of his friend the man turned to look at Ben before he ran towards him. Racing to jump onto Ben, he struggled as Jeremiah tried to bite at him. Hands digging into his shirt Ben yelled out in shock while his friend tried to kill him. 

“Jeremiah it’s me!” Ben hollered out and Claire tensed when a gun fired from beside her. Smoke flowing from her revolver Jill moved to help Ben up as Jeremiah’s dead body slumped on top of him. Blood splattering onto his clothes Ben wiped at his face as the people nearby screamed and ran away into nearby rooms. 

“Why did you shoot him?!” Ben yelled out at Jill who’s hand was pushed away as he stood from the dusty ground.

“He was tryin’ to kill you.” Claire remarked moving to look at Jeremiah and her eyes narrowed in confusion when she saw the wound on his chest. Bite marks were apparent and his clothes had holes in them. Smelling the reek of rigor mortis, Claire put a hand to her nose to try and stifle the scent. 

“Something’s not right.” Jill breathed out wrapping a black bandana over her face which Claire wished she had as well. 

“Of course not! Jeremiah ain’t a murderer!” Ben shouted out tensing when Moira moved to grab his shoulder. 

“Ben…” She said with fear and he paused when they heard a nearby groan. Turning from Jeremiah to the dead woman on the ground they all watched with horror when she suddenly rose up from the dusty ground. 

“What the fuck…” Moira cursed out her amber eyes wide in confusion and fear as the man in green moved to get a closer look. 

“Ma’am?” He called out with shock the disfigurement of her features having convinced him she had to have been dead. Her face had been chewed off and her fingers were bent and broken but now she was standing like none of that had happened. Seeming to hear his voice the woman turned to look at him and his brown eyes widened when she suddenly leaped into him and she bit him on the neck. 

Screaming in surprise the man managed to wrestle her off of him and he shot the rifle hitting her square in the chest and knocking her back to the ground. Grabbing at his bleeding neck he stood with the help of Rebecca who had appeared just when the woman had risen from her apparent death. 

“We’ll get you bandaged. A sickness of some kind is running rampant, you need your wound cleaned now.” Rebecca said in a distressed tone but her focus on the injured man was turned back to the woman when she stood up again. 

“That’s impossible.” Rebecca gasped out seeing the clear hole of the rifle shot in the woman’s chest. Backing up with shock Rebecca and the man moved but soon the woman screamed out into the air before she went after them. 

Claire shot her gun this time and she hit the woman in the head and her dead body fell forward into the man who screamed at the sight. Face paling Rebecca moved to help him from the ground and she motioned for Ben to help her. Trying to wrap his mind around the impossible he moved to help Rebecca carry the man out of the area. 

“I don’t know what the hell I just saw.” The injured man said with shock groaning in pain as Rebecca and Ben carried him away. 

Looking from the rotting dead bodies to the sky, Claire’s heart sank as the bad feeling from before returned to her. Something about the world was changing and they had been oblivious to it. 

“There must be something to what we heard about Mexico, Jill.” Claire remarked as she looked away from the green and grey sky to Jill. 

“I don’t know any infection that works like this.” Jill replied scratching her neck as she pulled the bandana from her face. 

“Moira, where is your father?” Jill asked, noticing Barry was nowhere to be found and she tensed when Moira grabbed her arm. Panic was present in her eyes as tears leaked from them.

“Barry went out for a ride!” Moira shouted out her face paling when her eyes fell onto the dead bodies. Moving to block them from Moira’s sight, Claire moved to grab her shoulders. 

“Do you know where he went?” She asked as Moira visibly shook in her hold. 

“He usually likes to go out to Riley’s Charge and look at the old battlefield.” Moira said blinking when Claire squeezed her shoulders. 

“We’ll go and get them. You go and help Rebecca with anything she needs.” Claire said, glancing at Jill who nodded in confirmation to their sudden plans. 

“Moira...have this.” Jill said uncertainly growing in her chest as she held out a silver revolver to Moira. Paling again at the sight Moira shook her head rapidly in response. 

“I d-don’t do guns.” She said with a firmness that reminded Claire of herself. Appearing apologetic Jill nodded and she moved to give Moira her knife. 

“I’m sorry, I forgot about that. Where is your sister?” Jill asked, noticing that Polly was nowhere to be seen as well. Grabbing the knife from Jill’s grasp, Moira tightened her hold until her knuckles were white. 

“With Barry.” Moira said with further distress obvious in her voice and Claire moved to pat her back. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll bring them back safe okay?” She said and Moira groaned.

“Thanks, please be careful and kick his ass for wandering off for me.” The younger girl said before she ran to where Rebecca and Ben had gone. Watching Moira run, Claire tensed when Jill moved to hand her a piece of cloth. 

“You’re good with kids.” Jill remarked as they moved from the bodies towards where their horses were held. Men nearby in uniform went to move the bodies each of them whispering about what had happened as Jill saddled Starbuck and jumped onto him. Stretching her arm slightly, Claire moved onto her own horse she had managed to bargain with one of the soldiers for. Angel, as she was named because of her white coat, whinnied at Claire and she smiled petting the horse’s blonde mane before she turned to follow Jill and Starbuck. 

“She just reminds me a little of myself.” Claire commented stopping as the men at the doors opened it for them. 

“Don’t open these doors for anyone besides me, Claire, or Burton, understand?” Jill called out and the young men nodded seeming slightly intimidated by Jill’s stare. She had soon shown the men of the fort how she yielded authority and Claire smiled slightly since people seemed to either fear or respect her. Increasing the pace of Angel, Claire fell into step with Jill whose horse was built more for combat than speed. Keeping a steady pace Claire breathed out a few times trying to wrap her mind around what they had just witnessed. 

“It must be hard for Ben to lose a friend like that.” Claire commented having picked up the fact Ben seemed to know the majority of the men in the fort. 

“Yes, they used to be in the Army together.” Jill sighed out looking around and noticing there was no one in sight around them. She kept alert anyway raising her voice to talk to Claire as they picked up speed towards Riley’s Charge. 

“Why did he quit?” She asked curiously. 

“He didn’t. He has bone spurs and they took him out. Ben was pissed but when he got the offer to work for the law he accepted.” Jill shouted out, slowing Starbuck down as they crossed a railroad track. 

“Riley’s Charge is just up ahead.” Claire remarked turning Angel as they continued through the trail. 

“Well shit, what a way for things to go down.” Claire said after a moment of just the sounds of the horses and their hooves hitting the trail. Suddenly she noticed a group of people up ahead of the trail and she slowed Angel down. 

“Hey…” Jill said hesitantly to her horse, stopping Starbuck beside Claire who already had her revolver in her hand. Nearing it tentatively they gasped when they saw a wagon that had been knocked to its side. A crowd of people were banging against the blue wagon and a foul smell greeted them when they neared. Blood red and pink flesh came into sight and Claire nearly vomited when she realized three of them were feasting on the overturned and dead horses. 

Raising her rifle up, Jill’s attention was taken from the horses to the wagon when she heard a shrill scream.

“Help!”

“Oh shit.” Claire gasped out when one of the people turned and noticed them. Crimson red greeted Claire when he turned and she held in a scream when she noticed the blood all over his face which had missing pieces bitten out of it. 

Reacting due to fear Angel reared her body up and Claire grunted when her horse knocked her off. 

“Angel, no dammit!” She yelled at her horse who ran off behind them when the others picked up on the noise. Moving towards Claire and Jill with haste, Claire scrambled for her gun and she took aim shooting along with Jill when they got mere inches away. Pushing her body up, Claire continued to fire, hitting one in the chest and knocking it back for a moment and killing one when she managed to shoot it in the head. 

“Shooting the head does the trick. What the hell are these things?” Claire hollered out to Jill, noticing one’s brains splatter out when Jill shot one in the face. Two more of the strange beings left, Claire stopped next to Jill and she followed after Starbuck when they moved to get away from the rotting people of whom were focused on trying to pull Jill off her horse. 

The green moon glowed brighter as the clouds moved away and soon Claire noticed that a girl was stuck within the wagon trying to keep one of the monsters off of her by using a broken piece of the wagon like a shield. Hearing shrill screams Claire moved away from Jill and Starbuck towards the wagon and she pulled herself on top of it. 

“That’s not very nice.” Claire growled out hitting the rotting woman in the face before she shot her in the face. Watching her dead body fall she covered her mouth with the bandana Jill had given her before she moved towards the opening in the broken wagon. 

“Hey now, I’m not going to hurt ya.” Claire called out her voice slightly muffled under the cloth as she reached her gloved hand out to the girl. 

“The men are gone!” The girl cried out but regardless of her fear the blonde grabbed Claire’s hand and she moved to hug her seeming glad of her rescue. 

“Those things chased away the men watching us. I don’t know where they are!” The blonde girl cried out in panic and Claire grunted when she clung to her tighter. 

Gunshots from Jill’s rifle took her attention from the girl and she breathed out with relief when no more of the monsters were in sight. 

“Thank you, thank you so much.” The girl cried out and Claire awkwardly patted her back before she turned to look at Jill. 

“Come on, we’re going to get you to some safety and we’ll look for the others.” Jill said, offering her hand to the girl who blinked away her tears when she looked up at her. Brown eyes greeted her and the girl sniffled before she nodded her head and she grabbed Jill’s hand, feeling Claire help to lift her onto the tall, dark horse. 

“They went that way.” The girl said pointing in the direction away from Riley’s Charge towards Tumbleweed. Sighing softly Claire whistled for Angel who returned and she scolded her horse for running off before she moved to feed Angel a piece of an apple she had grabbed from the wagon. Chewing into it she pulled herself up onto the horse and she enjoyed the sweetness of the apple for a moment. Looking away from the dead bodies around them Claire glanced at the girl and Jill. 

“How can you eat around all of this?” The girl said with disgust, her eyes falling to look at Claire’s scarred face while Claire merely shrugged and continued to eat her apple. 

“What’s your name?” Jill interrupted keeping her eyes focused towards Riley’s Charge as the blonde shifted on the saddle she was on. 

“A-Ashley, Ashley Graham, and your name Miss?” Ashley asked her voice falling into a sad whisper as Claire pulled up beside them. 

“I’m Jill Valentine and this is Claire Redfield. I’m a Sheriff from Kansas.” She said and Ashley perked up at this. 

“Do you know Leon Kennedy? He was one of the deputies escorting me…” Ashley asked and she frowned when Jill shook her head. 

“Oh, he said he was from Kansas...my daddy really liked him. He was nice to me and I hope he didn’t get hurt.” Claire frowned sympathetically and she moved to touch Ashley’s shoulder. 

“We’ll try looking for him, but we have to look for a friend first.” She said nodding to Jill who moved to grab some binoculars. 

“Are you a deputy or something?” Ashley asked curiously and Claire laughed in reply straightening her legs on her horse before answering. 

“No ma’am, I’m not anything of the sort.” 

“Claire, over there.” Jill said, passing the binoculars to Claire who moved to raise them to her eyes. Squinting as the green moonlight filtered in past the dark rumbling clouds her stomach fell into the pit of her stomach. 

Across the way there were a few visible cannons and broken debris and to her dread several of the dead people from before. Gunfire shot out throughout Riley’s Charge and soon she spotted Barry who was fighting them off on his own. Unable to spot his daughter Polly she searched around before she gave the binoculars back to Jill. 

“This ain’t good.” Claire remarked the howls of the undead entering her ears and the disturbance of the Earth nearby caught their attention as Ashley screamed. 

To her horror, dead soldiers in grey and blue uniforms were crawling out from the ground and back to the surface. Dark clouds built around them and rumbled in as electricity grew within the rain clouds. Rain falling onto them and the dirt, sinkholes developed as the skeletal remains and rotting men tripped over each other in their attempts to find and eat any who had flesh. 

Looking to Jill, Claire steeled her nerves and she moved to load her revolver while Jill loaded her rifle. 

“They should have stayed in the ground.” Claire whispered out pulling back the hammer of her revolver before she counted her shots. Worry over her ammo count aside she knew she was going to follow Jill even if a part of her wanted to leave and never come back. However, she knew she couldn’t leave Barry and Polly to die nor could she leave Jill and Ashley behind. Heart hammering in her chest Claire jumped off of Angel who she could feel trembling. Knowing Angel was too scared to ride around the dead, Claire moved to pet her horse before she turned to look up at Jill. 

“Ashley, do you know how to ride a horse?” Claire asked moving her stare from Jill to Ashley who was staring ahead at the zombies in horror. Not appearing to have heard her she moved to grab Ashley’s arm, startling her from her shock. 

“Um, yes ma’am.” Ashley said with a quick nod. 

“Get on my horse Angel.” She instructed and Ashley nodded groaning slightly as she moved to sit on Angel’s saddle. 

"What are you doing?” Jill questioned and Claire got onto Starbuck while Ashley shivered on top of Angel who whinnied in fear when the rolling thunder came in.

“Better for her to have a way out if she needs one. We’re not bringing her into this mess.” Claire said, touching Jill’s back with the palm of her hand. 

“We’ll be back then Ashley.... stay right here unless they get too close.” Jill said and Ashley nodded, moving to rub her own arms as the cold rain continued to pour. 

“G-Good luck.” Ashley said, looking around her to check that she was safe as Jill and Claire moved Starbuck towards Riley’s Charge. 

Jill pressed forward as the rain hit against them and drenched them. Hair sticking to her face she pushed off of her hair to get a better look at the ground as more undead rose from the mud and the grass. Now the men who had previously been fully submerged by the mud were on the surface. Noticing another strange sight Jill glimpsed through the dark to see larger zombies that were trying to barrel straight into Starbuck and knock them off of the horse.

“Jill, watch the right!” Claire shouted out firing at a large and mud covered man as he barreled in their direction. 

“Should have brought the shotgun.” Jill called out, moving to hand Claire her rifle as she kicked Starbuck to move faster. Seeing Barry but unable to pass by the thick and growing crowd of the dead, Jill turned Starbuck away to do a circle around them. While doing so undead tried to grab at their legs but she moved to kick them away.

Shooting the large one in the chest, Claire fired three more times hitting it once in the face and two more times in the chest. 

“Good shot.” Jill said using her revolver to shoot a few in front of them. She had incapacitated one by shooting it in the leg and she killed the other two by shooting them in the head. The crack of her revolver’s fire and rifle filled the air as they fought against the undead.

“It looks like doomsday out here. People have been preachin’ this shit to me for years.” Claire said shooting a zombie and sending it back to the mud as they circled the crowd again. Roars entered their ears while Barry continued to fire at the zombies trying to grasp at him.

“Got any sins to confess?” Jill quipped firing her fifth shot at a woman who had been running on all fours after them. Hitting her in the chest she tumbled and rolled into the rotting men and women behind her as Starbuck rushed towards the outside of the mesh shelter Barry was inside of. 

“Have a couple hours to spare.” Claire fired back and Jill laughed, firing her gun into the shelter when a zombie managed to slip in. 

“Barry where is Polly?” Jill asked as he continued his assault clearing the ones around him out before he turned his attention to the zombies on the field in front of him. 

“She’s on my horse but I lost sight of him half an hour ago. Go look for her on the field over yonder.” Barry yelled out grunting as he shoved a zombie aside and fired at the crawling zombie to the left of him.

“Jill let me off.” Claire said and she moved to encircle her arms around Jill when she pushed Starbuck to gather some distance from the running undead horde.

“What are you suicidal? Stick with me and let’s go get Warhorse.” Jill said in return and Claire shoulder Jill’s rifle. 

“Trust me.” Claire whispered into her ear and Jill sighed but it was unheard by Claire as the thunder rolled above them. Slowing Starbuck down Jill felt Claire jump off. Running to the shelter Barry had been standing within Claire ran to stand beside him to give him cover fire to his right. 

“You’re a brave one.” Barry commented using the butt of his rifle to knock down an eager zombie before he stepped onto its neck to keep it still. Shooting into its face blood splattered onto his dark duster while Claire continued to shoot at the soldiers in the field with the rifle. 

“Most would call me reckless and foolish.” Claire replied, reloading the repeater and backing up as the horde neared them. They were slow and almost docile and that made for easier pickings compared to the other zombies that had been able to run at them. However, they both took notice that the undead were forming a circle in an attempt to close them in. 

“What’s foolish to one man could be genius to another.” Barry quipped and Claire raised a brow when he lifted up his sawed off shotgun in her direction. 

“Duck.” He said and Claire ducked quickly the shot of the shotgun creating a bright flash of yellow light as he fired into the zombie that had nearly snuck up on her. 

“Thanks.” Claire said standing to aim her rifle at the others behind her while Barry shot his shotgun at the undead closest to them. The crowd was thinning out but so was their ammunition as they carried on their onslaught. 

Continuing their fight Barry’s expression lit up when he saw Polly with Jill as well as Warhorse which she had lassoed to bring him along. Firing her revolver into the crowd Claire and Barry ran together from the shelter towards the horses. Pulling Claire from the ground to the horse Barry pulled the rope from his horse’s neck. 

“Come on, we need to go.” Barry hollered out kicking a zombie in the head when it grabbed at his leg. 

Claire yelled from behind Barry struggling when a hand grasped onto her leg and tried to pull her from the horse. Turning to look at the undead man in blue, Claire pulled the hammer back and fired her last bullet into its head. She watched the zombie fall dead into the mud as others stomped over it as they followed the four of them. 

“Dad watch out!” Polly screamed and Barry and Claire were suddenly rocked to the side and off of the horse when a large zombie tumbled into them. Groaning Claire rolled away when Warhouse fell thrashing wildly into the mud as he struggled to get back up right. In horror she saw the undead scratch at Warhorse adding to the numerous scars already all over its large torso. 

“No.” Barry gasped out firing into the zombie over him before his gun clicked. Claire groaned and fought against the grasping arms around her while Barry stood from the mud that was now coating the entire right side of his body. 

Angrily Barry hit his gun against the three zombies surrounding Warhorse and the brown horse took this time to escape from their hungered clutches. Noticing the intense injuries Barry offered his hand to Claire but a zombie soon lunged and grabbed his back. 

“Fuck off!” Barry growled out sending the rotting body over him with his arms. 

“Claire!” Jill yelled, firing her gun at the zombie attacking Claire trying to assist them in the chaos. Finally managing to get back onto Warhorse, Barry holstered his shotgun and Claire pulled her body up onto Barry’s horse gasping with relief when they left Riley’s Charge and rode the horses away from the thinning horde. The last few zombies falling to catch up with them, Claire sighed and tightened her grip on Jill’s rifle. 

Running to stop beside Angel and Ashley, they gestured for Ashley follow and the blonde nodded the rain sticking her long blonde hair to her neck as they all rode away from the monsters of the night to safety.


	4. What We Do Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jill, Claire, Barry, and the others rush back to Fort Mercer for safety and to receive information on the situation at hand. Claire makes a promise to Ashley that she will search for Leon despite having just met her while Rebecca Chambers fights for her life and nearly loses it to the men she had tried to save. 
> 
> Leon Kennedy enters the fray as he battles against the undead in a farmhouse after becoming separated from Ashley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of ups and downs in this chapter as well as a whole lot happening. I hope you enjoy this though and hopefully you'll want to stick around for more angst and zombie killing. I did introduce more characters into this chapter as I felt the need to cover more than just what Jill, Claire, and the others were doing. Lots of chaos and good ol' tension or at least I am hoping it's good haha.
> 
> Oh and the gore tag would most definitely apply here as well a warning for a dark/traumatic moment too.

Blood splattered all over Rebecca’s face and clothes as she worked to wrap the wounds around the man in front of her. The man with shock in his gaze, wrestled in her grasp and she closed her eyes briefly to center herself. 

“Ben!” The brunette yelled out and Ben moved to set his hands onto the uniformed man’s soldier in an attempt to calm him down. 

“Johnson, come on now. Becca is gonna take care of you.” Ben said when Johnson’s frantic stare met his own. 

“I just got fuckin’ bit by a dead woman! How could I be calm right now!?” The bearded man growled out wincing when Rebecca pushed a piece of cloth to his neck which had been bleeding all over him. Wiping the blood from her face Rebecca kept her focus on his wound when more people rushed into the room. 

Ben turned while keeping his hold on Johnson with surprise. 

“Miss Chambers! We have another one who needs your help. Old Wilkins just up and attacked him out of nowhere. Armadillo is in chaos!” The man in a dark coat said while the soldier next to him helped to lay a man on a nearby table. The bleeding man in their grasp groaned and he clutched at his leg. 

“In chaos? What the hell is going on?” Ben whispered out locking gazes with Rebecca who appeared to be much calmer than he was. 

“I’m going to need your help with these men.” Rebecca sighed out tapping at the wound on Johnson’s neck with the cloth as she spoke, her concern growing when she noticed how pale white Johnson’s face was becoming. 

“Fort Mercer needs to be on lock down. We cannot afford any more attacks like this.” 

“Well no shit where’s Jill and—” However, Ben was interrupted when Moira barged into the room with a girl in her arms. The young girl was crying in her arms and red could be visible all over Moira’s shirt. 

Wild brown eyes greeted them as Moira tried to keep a hold of the girl in her arms. 

“Rebecca, I found Josie hiding in a corner. She says her mom went into town and she—she hasn’t returned for hours—” Moira said, taking a breath as she moved to console the young girl in her arms. 

“Is she hurt?” Rebecca asked Moira before she moved to look at the other man who needed her assistance. 

“No, but she’s really scared. I think everyone is losing it, but I have the towels you asked for.” Moira said before she handed the towels to Rebecca. 

“Thank you Moira. I would like you to bring Josie to another room and keep her with you. You two—” Rebecca said, looking from Moira and Josie to the men beside her. 

“Can you please make sure they have the back doors closed and locked? The last thing we want is unwanted visitors.” 

“Yes ma’am, we heard Captain Burton is missing but Miss Valentine and Miss Redfield went to look for him. We’ll let you know if we see them.” He said saluting Rebecca before both of the men departed from the room. 

“Thank you—” Rebecca breathed out, turning her attention back to the injured men around her as the sounds of screaming erupted into the air. Alarmed and tense Moira continued to try and soothe Josie while Ben went to look at what was happening outside. 

“Benjamin! I need you to come with me now.” A man said running up and dragging Ben from the room. Noticing the blood all over the army doctor’s hands Ben eyed him with surprise. 

“What the hell is it Victor?” Ben asked the man as the doctor gestured for him to hurriedly follow as he adjusted his glasses on his face. Stopping to look around with wide blue eyes Victor moved to shut the door behind Ben before he gestured for him to go forward once more. 

“Something impossible.” Victor said snapping on gloves before he pushed away a curtain which had concealed another room. Inside was a body on a table and Ben covered his face immediately when he was greeted with the foul stench. 

Ben said nothing as he looked around disgusted by the amount of blood he was seeing in the room. Confused by this he stepped in further despite the horrible smell. 

“Victor.” Ben said, his voice muffled by his hand as Victor uncovered the blanket from the figure on the table. 

Tied to the table was a moving man in a uniform and Ben’s eyes widened when Victor directed his attention to a wound in his chest that had to have been fatal. 

“We are dealing with the unknown.” Victor said his thick German accent filling the air as he spoke and the table rustled as the figure on the table thrashed around and growled. 

“Because this man should be dead, but he is undead.” Victor said pointing his hand towards a hole in the man’s chest. Daring to look Ben felt bile rise to his throat when he saw that there was no heart. Soon after looking into the gaping gunshot wound Ben’s eyes fell down to a silver side table where the organ was resting and no longer beating. 

“This is hell on Earth.” He gasped out, pushing himself out of the room in a hurry as Victor nodded adjusting his glasses and getting red on them in the process. 

July 28th, hours later.

Claire cocked the hammer back on her revolver before she fired hitting the man between the eyes before he could even blink. 

“Nice shot Redfield!” Barry yelled out pushing the scarred horse forward in a gallop as they tried to catch up with the hurried pace of Angel and Starbuck. Repeated taps against the trail of rushing hooves besides the crack of thunder was heard as gun flashes and lightning flashes flickered through the sky in sporadic bolts of vivid purple and blue. 

Ashley screamed when she looked back because they were still being chased by men on horseback. 

“Who are these people?” Jill wondered aloud as Polly clung to her and she closed her eyes as the rain battered hard against them in a most unforgiving nature.

It had nearly been 40 minutes of riding before men had tailed them, chasing and attempting to grab up Ashley until the others fought the men off.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea who they are!” Ashley shouted out close enough beside Jill to have heard her speak. 

“Well dammit—duck honey.” Jill said to Polly, aiming her gun above the youngest Burton’s head and shooting another man off of his horse, her silver revolver’s chamber turning clockwise in a slide. 

“Jill! We need to get these girls to the fort pronto.” Barry hollered out when no more men were in sight. The last of the five men fell to his death when he was shot by Claire. She kept her eyes trained behind them as his body rolled and thudded smack into another horse that was rushing forward without it’s rider. 

“What about Leon?” Ashley questioned with obvious distress in her tone as they continued forward. 

“We’ll figure out a plan, don’t worry.” Jill said tipping her hat to Ashley which had somehow managed to remain on her head the entire ride. Feeling Polly tighten her hold on her back she moved to pat Polly’s leg before she grabbed up the reins of Starbuck once again, her horse snorting as if he was aware he needed to move faster. 

“You’re not too bad at this old man!” Claire laughed out when they finally arrived at Rio Bravo, Fort Mercer in sight as Jill led the charge while Ashley followed a close second. 

“Hey your girlfriend just called me old Jill. Should teach her some manners!” Barry called out with a laugh causing the smirk on Claire’s face to fall away.

Slipping her gun into her holster Claire glared at the back of Barry’s head as they stopped in front of the fort, surprise appearing on their faces when they were greeted with a line of men with their rifles aimed. 

Ashley pulled Angel to an abrupt stop behind Starbuck while Jill simply pushed off of Starbuck, keeping a hold of him until she could help Polly down. 

Upon noticing Barry the men lowered their rifles and the tallest one walked from the top of the fort to the fort doors. 

“Captain, we’ve had chaos in the fort but we are glad you’re alive and well.” The younger man said saluting Barry who scratched at his beard. 

“Is it safe inside there? Tell me what’s goin’ on.” Barry grunted out while Jill, Claire, and Ashley walked up behind them. 

“Yes sir! Miss Chambers seems to have a handle on the situation and the fort is on lock down.” 

Squinting Barry raised a brow, “There’s something you’re not telling me Williams.” 

Nervously the man named Williams stood straighter before he delivered the news. 

“We’ve lost six men. The civvies are scared to death and the doctor Victor is not helping and—well shit sir, I have to be honest and tell you I never seen anything like this.” 

“Me neither kid, but I need to get inside. I have a sneaking suspicion things in town are no better.” Barry growled out pulling Polly into a side hug when she walked to stand next to him. 

“I’m sorry I brought you out there. Are you okay?” He asked when he looked to his youngest daughter and the blonde gave her father a weak smile. 

“I’m fine dad. I think.” Polly said, shaking a little due to the coldness of the rain. Tightening his grip Barry rubbed her arm. 

“Go to your sister after awhile and stay with her tonight. I promise I will keep you both safe.” Barry said and Polly nodded her head in reply. 

The doors to the fort were quickly pulled open for the five of them and they hurried inside.

Shaking her head like she was a dog Claire held in a laugh when Ashley got hit by the spray. 

“Sorry but you were wet anyway.” Claire offered while the younger blonde glared briefly before she nodded with a subdued smile. Noticing this Claire set a hand on her shoulder as they walked further into what they hoped was the safety of the fort. 

“Hey easy—we’ll try and look for this Leon, but we need to gather ourselves. Travel during a thunderstorm is an accident waiting to happen.” Claire assured and Ashley’s pink lips lifted slightly in appreciation while her tensed shoulders relaxed. 

“Thank you Claire, for saving me from those t—things I mean and for offering your help. You didn’t have too.” Ashley said, dropping her gaze as her face reddened when Claire smiled.

“It’s my pleasure. Saving pretty ones is my specialty.” Claire laughed out letting go of her shoulder when Jill appeared next to them. 

“You’re awful young, how old are you Ashley and what were you doing out there?” Jill suddenly asked, her dark hair slinking into her face since she had taken off her hat. Turning to look at Jill’s irritated expression, amusement grew on Claire’s features. 

“I’m 17 and I'm Senator Graham's daughter. They were taking me to the train station in Armadillo before we were...” Ashley said her expression of distress as her gaze fell to the ground and to the blood the rain had not managed to completely wash away. She put a hand to her mouth with surprise until Claire yanked her along with her towards a door to their far right.

“Come on, let’s get out of the rain and we’ll all talk.” Claire said nodding to Jill who soon followed while Barry took Polly to her room. Watching her friend walk off with his daughter Jill sighed when she looked to the blood before she followed after Claire and Ashley. 

Men who were dressed in uniform eyed them but chose not to speak as they shouldered their rifles and walked along the parts of the fort that provided some shelter from the rain. 

Walking into a room Claire’s eyes widened with surprise when she saw Moira with a little girl in her arms. Looking up from the resting girl Moira gave them a relieved smile. 

“Oh! Are Barry and Polly okay?” Moira whispered out and she let out an exhale when Jill nodded her head. 

“You two look like you’ve had a few dips in the pond. There’s some towels over there.” Moira said her gaze falling to the blonde in the room she did not know. 

“Who are you?” Moira asked bluntly and Ashley blushed in response.

“I’m Ashley.” She offered lamely stepping aside when Jill and Claire went to grab the towels. Handing Ashley one, Jill ran the towel through her hair while Claire used it to try and dry her clothes but the towels were not exceptionally effective. 

“Screw it.” Claire sighed out taking off her black vest before she went to unbutton her collared shirt. 

“Woah, Claire.” Jill spoke out stopping Claire when she got to her fourth button. Feeling Jill’s hand touch her hand on her shirt she felt her face redden as the heat of Jill’s hand and their closeness registered. 

“You’re like a damn cat in the rain, aren’t you? Where the hell is Rebecca?” Jill asked turning to look at Moira with a softening expression when she noticed Josie. 

“She’s been helping a few of Barry’s men who were attacked. As far as I know things have calmed down but I’ve been keeping Josie with me.” Moira said running a hand through the young girl’s hair while she slept. 

Jill exhaled a breath in thought until Claire moved to touch her shoulder causing Jill to look over at her. She smiled softly while she used her other hand to button up one of the buttons of her shirt. 

“Would it be alright if Ashley stayed here with you Moira while we go check up on Rebecca?” Claire asked, looking at the blonde who’s expression shifted into a nervous one. 

“It’s fine as long as she doesn’t need feeding.” Moira said and Ashley laughed to fill up the awkward tension when Claire and Jill departed the room soon after.

“I’m not a dog.” Ashley said after a moment of standing and dripping all over the floor of the room. Realizing this her face reddened and she went to try and dry off some more. 

“I didn’t say that, I just don’t like to babysit.” Moira laughed and Ashley immediately rolled her eyes at Moira before she found an empty chair to sit down on. 

“Don’t worry, I’m old enough to take care of myself.” Ashley rebuffed setting her hand to her arm as she slid to rest her elbow onto the table. A haunted expression then took over her face which was enough to silence the brunette in the room for a moment. 

“We’ll be okay. I don’t know where you came from but these people are here to help.” Moira said shifting slightly when Ashley looked back over to her. 

“You sound so sure. Do you even know what I saw out there?” Ashley asked, her voice coming off harsher than she meant. Frowning Moira chuckled out bitterly. 

“Something terrible—like I don’t know people biting chunks out of other people? It’s fucking crazy but at least you’re here.” Ashley fought back tears for a moment as she blinked. 

“You’re the bluntest girl I’ve ever met.” Ashley said her eyes trailing past Moira’s face to her outfit which looked like what a man would typically wear instead of a girl. 

“You just met me is all Miss.” Moira stated her eyes roaming the room when Ashley chose to not comment any further. Moving to hug her knees Ashley listened to the sound of the rain as it hit the ground and the fort’s structure. 

Rushing after Jill’s fleeting form, Claire ignored the men running past them as she hurried her pace, falling in step with the woman who now appeared to be ignoring her. 

Buttoning up her shirt the rest of the way Claire huffed before she grabbed Jill by the hand promptly stopping her from walking ahead. 

“What is it?” Jill questioned her eyes falling to Claire’s chest briefly as the redhead pulled Jill towards a room. 

Smirk rising slowly Claire felt her heart rate pick up when Jill continued to hold onto her hand as she opened a door into a room she was glad to find empty.

“You’re acting weird around me and I’d like to know why.” Claire said backing up when Jill stepped forward which resulted with her back being pressed lightly against the wall behind her. 

“Chasing after me while buttoning up your shirt will give the wrong impression.” Jill said setting her gloved hand to the left of Claire on the wall when Claire let go of her other hand. 

“You do not strike me as the type who gives a damn what other people think.” Claire remarked her breathing shallower when Jill shifted closer as her pupils grew in size, something Claire took notice of since she was getting an intimate view of Jill’s face mere inches from her own.

“It matters to me what people think around here. I am trying to help them.” Jill said with a frown her fingers digging into the wall when Claire reached to take off her hat. 

Dropping the black hat to the ground Jill’s eyes followed it but they soon darted back up when Claire touched her face with her hand. 

“Remember the deal you struck with me. We’re still helping each other.” Claire said her voice falling to a husk when Jill pushed her hand away. 

“It’s cute Redfield but we need to focus.” Jill said, turning to look back to her hat but Claire stopped her. Shifting to press her body to Jill’s she spoke into her ear. 

“You don’t have to be scared of me.” Claire breathed out and Jill shook her head with a laugh. 

“Claire, I think you’re the one who is afraid.” Jill remarked, catching Claire’s eyes when they were once again face to face. Tension built in their stare as Claire’s eyes widened briefly, her confident smile drifting from her scarred features upon hearing Jill’s words. 

“The only thing I am concerned with is what we’ve been seeing and if my brother is okay out there.” Claire said heatedly and Jill nodded her slowly as her hand moved from the wall behind Claire. 

“Claire I promise I won’t stop helping you look, but we need to get a handle on all of this.” Jill said and Claire’s frown lifted slightly. 

“Fair enough, we are fighting dead people now. This ain’t your everyday chasing and shooting dumb fucks kind of occasion.” Claire said slipping from in front of Jill and to the hat she had dropped. Dusting the diry from the hat she set it on Jill’s head but not without a smile making its way on her face. 

“Also next time you want to take a peek you just have to ask.” Claire remarked in a tease thinking she had caught Jill off guard but a smirk rose on the Sheriff’s face that she had not been expecting. 

Pushing Claire to the wall, Jill looked over Claire since she knew the other woman was watching before she seemed satisfied with something. 

“Your shirt is wet.” Jill stated and Claire coughed when Jill released her hair from it’s ponytail. Red hair splayed across her shoulders as Jill’s fingers ran through it. 

“You’re really quite lovely.” Jill whispered to Claire tilting her head with a smile that made the annoyed woman in front of her feel off balance. 

Heart beating faster and loud in her ears, Claire felt a nervousness flutter in her chest upon the realization Jill was moving closer to her. Stopping her with her hands, Claire set her hands on Jill’s shoulders which appeared to surprise the other woman. 

“Sheriff Valentine as much as I want this to continue. We have a friend of yours to check on.” Claire grumbled out and Jill’s moment of realization seemed to fall across her face like a stack of bricks. 

“Come on, I just remembered something important!” Jill said with intensity moving out of the room faster than Claire could form a thought. Following after the woman Claire looked down to her own red and soaked shirt with a blush before she refocused on the task at hand. 

“Ben? Ben, where are you?” Rebecca called out in alarm as the two men closed in on her. She was unarmed having left her gun on the table but it was far out of reach. The men were slow likely due to the fact they had just perished and Rebecca had thrown obstacles in their path. 

Pushing to the opposite end of the room Rebecca held up a chair in a defensive stance, her green gaze falling to the revolver on the right hand side of the table and then back to the dead men who were howling and attempting to kill her. 

“Think Rebecca think.” Rebecca whispered out pushing the chair at the groaning soldiers whenever they came near. Suddenly before Rebecca could formulate a plan of escape, one of the zombies pushed forward and straight into the chair she was holding. The force of impact knocked the smaller woman to the ground and she grunted when the weight of the man broke the chair with a snap. Out of a proper shield Rebecca yelled out in alarm when he tried to bite at her right arm and face. Keeping him at bay with her forearm Rebecca looked to the left and to the splintered piece of wood the broken chair had created. 

“Get off!” Rebecca hollered out swiftly grabbing the wood and sticking it into his face. Shoving the sharp end of the wood forward into his eye socket she grimaced at the squalshing sound but she continued until she managed enough distance from his body to kick him off of her. 

Howls entered her ears when the next one shuffled forward and Rebecca pushed her body backward to a standing position. Eyes flicking between the one whose face was pooling with blood and the other one standing upright Rebecca took this chance to dart forward through the opening. Stepping on the dead’s head in the process she ducked from a swipe and attempted grab before she propelled forward and she grabbed her revolver. 

Aiming the gun at the bloodied face of the man she had tried to save Rebecca closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Hearing a click Rebecca’s eyes opened and sweat dripped down her face as her blood ran cold. 

“Oh no.” She gasped out ducking and sliding under the table when the green uniformed man launched towards where she had last been standing. Growls entered her ears and her heart raced with another plan of attack. 

Just then a glint of a reflective object caught her attention and relief flooded through her when she saw her knife on the floor next to her. Reaching for it Rebecca performed a roll from the table in order to get away from the grasping fingers of the man who had eaten one of the men who had been injured last. 

Clutching her knife tightly Rebecca backed away into a corner when two more joined and rose from their prone positions on the floor. 

“Rebecca!” A voice called out soon distracting the undead from their trapped victim to the woman at the door. 

A gunshot echoed within the room as Jill fired knocking one into the other. Aiming her gun she fires again but upon missing two shots Jill ran and swiped the zombie’s legs which made him fall with a thud. 

Revolver aimed at the prone pale figure’s head Jill pulled the trigger again and she splattered his head all over the floor. 

“Hell no, you’re not touching her!” Claire hollered out punching one of the zombies in the face and knocking it from behind Jill to the floor. 

The bullet released from the gun when Claire aimed it at his head and the hammer was cocked back when Claire turned it to the last zombie who’s shadow crossed across herself and Jill when it stood back from the floor.

A flash from the shot lit up the dim room from both Jill and Claire’s guns, each shot hitting the zombie in the head and in the chest. Blood spewed from the shots and a thud filled the room when it fell. 

Smoke billowed from their revolvers and Claire twirled hers in a quick circle with her thumb before she tucked it into her holster. Jill stood from her crouched position and she shoved in five bullets into her gun as she turned her head to look at her friend Rebecca. 

“Boy am I glad to see you both.” Rebecca breathed out tucking her knife into her belt. 

Jill smiled in reply and she glanced at Claire as she walked to pull Rebecca into a brief hug. 

“I’m going to kick Vickers ass for leaving you alone. Where the fuck is he?” Jill asked, setting her hands on Rebecca’s shoulders as she took a quick look at her. Shock was present on Rebecca’s face before her mouth formed a thin line. 

“He left with Victor hours ago. Jill whatever is going on is not just affecting Mexico now. I’m fearful it’s—” Rebecca sighed putting a hand to her face and Jill frowned in response. 

“Becca come here.” Jill said guiding her out of the room while Claire followed. 

Hands shaking Rebecca lifted them up as she stared at them until they formed fists. Tears were present in her eyes when they looked to Jill’s and then Claire’s. 

“This infection—I’ve never seen anything like it but I do know it did not just appear overnight. I can tell by how long it took for those men to turn that this infection must have been slowly spreading at first for hours and hours.” Shakily Rebecca exhaled as Claire shifted to set her hand on her shoulder, her stare focused and calm.

“What are you saying Rebecca?” Claire asked with a growing frown. 

“They were getting sick faster and this means the whole region we live in could be completely infected in weeks or maybe even a few days.” 

Looking to Jill who remained silent Claire let out a worried breath. 

“What do we do to stop this?” She asked hoping Rebecca had an idea of what they should do. 

“Don’t get bitten, that seems to spread it the fastest and well let’s hope you're as good a shot as you think you are.” Rebecca said as she stood up straighter. 

Claire laughed softly while Jill looked around the fort paying attention to the men and families that were roaming around. The thunder storming had ceased and it was no longer pouring. The sky cleared to reveal the sun and for a moment the sky was no longer a ugly green but a clear blue.

“Maybe we can’t get to the bottom of what’s causing this just yet but—” Jill said, taking her rifle from Claire’s back and sliding the bottom of her Winchester repeater with a loud click. 

“We can do what we do best.”

July 29th

The battering against the door rocked against his arm as he pushed into the blockade in an attempt to keep the rotting men and women out. 

“Fuck!” Leon swore his arms covered with red as his heart pumped hard in his chest. 

“Mister, I appreciate you helping but this may be the end of the line.” The woman next to him sobbed as she kept her hands forward and on a table as the crowd of undead swarmed the house they were inside of. 

“Miss, I ain’t giving up so easy.” The blonde growled, looking at the woman in a blue dress and then to the other man who was struggling to keep out hands that were breaking the windows to the right and left of them. 

“No offense mister but just one of you ain’t much!” The man said shooting at the glass when one of the dead managed to break in while he struggled to reload his next shot into his double barrel shotgun. Leon continued to push against the crowd of zombies dodging hands that attempted to reach in as he glared at the man behind him. 

“Someone will be coming, we just got separated in the storm.” He grunted out using his arm to push against the tables and wardrobe beside him before he reached for his gun. 

Suddenly a scream broke out that pulled Leon’s gaze from the man to the woman who had been grabbed from a hand that had slipped in through a small opening. Seeing this Leon shoved forward attempting to help her when the sound of glass breaking mixed in with the groans and howls of the undead. 

“I’m getting the hell out of here!” The man from behind shouted out shooting his shotgun twice at a woman attempting to climb in before he ran forward only for a zombie to pounce on him. Yelling in fright the man dropped his shotgun and his yells increased as the zombie tore into him, making a mess of red and torn clothing in its wake. 

Moving from the woman, Leon aimed his revolver at the zombie and he shot grimacing when he hit it in the shoulder. The bullet ricocheted into another figure behind it as it fell backward. Not quite dead Leon fired again managing to shoot it in the head before he fixed his aim to the next, shooting twice as it neared. 

However since Leon had moved from the entrance, the sound of wood snapping and splintering soon followed his gunfire and he whirled around to face them with wide blue eyes. The woman he had tried to help long gone within the crowd of zombies as most of them focused on he. 

Pushing to grab the double barrel Leon glanced down to the dead man with apology.

“Sorry about this.” Leon signed out moving to reach into his shirt pockets for shotgun shells. Upon finding a few he soon rammed two of them into the gun and he turned, sweat dripping down his face as a couple of the rotting figures turned their glowering attention onto him. Noticing the green glow of their soulless eyes he aimed the shotgun towards them and he fired. 

Blood painted the walls of the farmhouse he was within and Leon reached to grab up his revolver after expelling the rest of the shotgun ammo into the remaining undead. He soon exhaled with relief when no more of the crowd were attempting to rush in and it took this time to assess his surroundings and gather his bearings. 

Searching through the house for any more survivors the young deputy found no success. Wiping his face with a cloth, Leon continued to the stairs with caution as the wood creaked underneath his feet. 

Searching the upstairs bedroom of the farm he had happened upon after being chased by a horde was the last thing Leon expected to be doing but he did find his lips rise when he came across bullets for his revolver. Stuffing it into his vest pocket, Leon turned his head when he heard a sound. 

Eyebrows knitting downward with confusion he moved towards the stairs before he ducked upon seeing figures down below on the first floor. Glancing between beams and using the sun filtering in through the windows he raised a brow upon seeing a woman. 

Steadying his breathing the deputy kept a firm grip on his revolver as he slid towards the top of the stairs upon seeing the woman walk past the dead bodies to the next room. 

Slinking down the stairs Leon’s plan of stealth was defeated when the wood snapped and his foot fell through the weakened wood. Pain shot through his leg and foot and he yelped in pain and surprise. 

“Shit.” Leon hissed removing his leg from the stair as pieces of wood wedged into his skin, causing him to bleed. 

“Who’s there?” A voice called out with alarm and Leon nearly tripped and fell to the bottom when the woman he had previously seen had rushed back into the living room. 

Making his way down the last step Leon huffed and caught his breath when she rushed forward and into him. Being pushed into the wall behind him Leon grunted and he dropped his revolver, the gun going off and firing in the middle of their tussle. He watched the bullet fly past him and the woman into the window behind her making a large hole which provided more light into the dim room. 

“What did you fucking do?!” The woman screamed at him punching and kicking him. Pain shooting up his leg, Leon reacted and he blocked a few of the punches before he managed to sucker punch her in the stomach. Hearing her ragged breath he raised his fist and knocked her in the chin to knock her off balance. 

Wincing Leon looked to see blood dripping down her face from his punch but she soon caught her breath about to attack him once again. 

“I didn’t do anything I swear!” Leon protested lifting up his arms in a defensive position when she rushed forward like a bull. Feeling a hard impact Leon gasped when she kicked him in the shin where he had been injured and anger brewed in his chest. 

“I’m a deputy. I was trying to fucking help!” Leon growled out making a punching motion to fake the woman out as he reached to grab and shove her away. 

Fists raised his eyebrows went up in surprise when this did not seem to deter the woman in the least. However instead of attacking him with brute force she backed off from him as tears sprung into her eyes. 

Confused washed over Leon as he wiped his bloodied face with his hand. 

“I was t-too late.” The woman suddenly cried out turning her attention to the man and woman Leon had tried to save. The room’s heat increased and his heart fell to his stomach when she dropped to her knees seeming to quickly lose her will to fight. 

“Too late?” Leon asked warily, tense and alert in case she had a second wind. Watery brown eyes glanced up to him that made her seem more like a defeated and heartbroken woman then an attacker hell bent on his destruction. 

“That’s my sister. T-This was all the family I had left—.” The woman sobbed and Leon felt his heart ring with sympathy upon the realization as to why she was here in the first place. Glancing down to the mauled woman on the floor Leon put a hand to his mouth before he limped over to the brunette woman on the floor. 

“I’m sorry they were too strong. I’m sorry I couldn’t save them.” The blonde man apologized blood dripping past his lips when she looked at him again. Her face was tan and her eyes were dark but the emotions in them was clear to see. 

“It’s not your fault Mister, it’s not yours—.” She sighed out brushing her long brown hair from her face as her eyes darted to the woman she claimed had been her sister. 

Dismay grew when a groan sounded out interrupting anything further Leon had to say. 

Turning to look in alarm at who had made the sound Leon backed up to reach for his gun. Cocking back the hammer swiftly, the deputy’s hand shook as he aimed it at the man who had failed to escape. 

Pulling the trigger the woman next to him jumped in a startle at the quickness of Leon’s reaction. The body fell backward from his shot and the zombie was no more. 

Gasping as tears ran down her cheeks the woman turned her attention to her left as terror arrived on her features. 

“He—lena.” A voice croaked out as a woman with long brown hair rose from the floor, her mauled and bloody features presenting themselves as she leaned at an awkward due to her broken leg. 

“Oh God, please no!” Helena cried out and shock appeared on her face when Leon pushed her backward and away from a strike from Deborah’s pale hand. 

“I really am sorry.” Leon called out with a distressed expression as he moved to aim his revolver towards the woman who used to be Deborah.


	5. Mourning For the Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character grief/brief suicidal thoughts warning here for the beginning. If death is a hard subject this may be difficult to read. 
> 
> I dearly hope I can improve upon transitions but I hope you like the occasional rapid turn in events. 
> 
> Gore warning here as well because bad things happen with zombies. Bolters are fast zombies that run on all fours, Bruisers are large zombies that ram opponents and they're more resistant. Other types besides fresh undead have not yet been shown. Btw these are canon zombie types in Red Dead Redemption, but it does not mean Resident Evil influences may not seep into this. :)
> 
> Demi Lovato's, "For You" was the song I was listening to while I wrote the Jill and Claire scenes. I also listened too Au/Ra's "Medicine" in case you might like to listen to songs with the chapter.

End of July

"Stop following me." Helena growled, turning to face Leon who crossed his arms. 

"Miss Harper-" Receiving a scowl, the deputy stepped closer tentatively.

"Helena please, I can't just leave you out here alone. Doing this alone." He urged blood visible on his clothing as Helena tried to quicken her pace away from him, grunting from the exertion all the while.

"You don't know me Mister Kennedy, let's keep it that way." Helena sighed, tears dripping down her face as she stopped on the hill they were on. 

Gently laying her sister down onto the hill, Helena's gaze drifted upward to the skies above which were slowly clearing from their ugly grey. 

"May I at least pay my condolences?" He asked in a sad murmur and Helena glanced at the man and his blonde growing beard. 

"I don't like a strange man giving my sister an eulogy. You killed her, don't you forget." Helena shot back putting her hands to her face as she leaned in front of Deborah. 

"I'm truly sorry. I couldn't let you get hurt too." Leon sighed leaning to the ground beside her as Helena hung her head down, her wavy brown covering and shadowing her face. 

Exhaling deeply Helena looked back to Leon with a grimace. 

"I know you did what you thought was right but I don't think you should stay for this." Helena whispered, motioning to her revolver which Leon's eyes widened at. 

"Helena-" He started carefully setting a hand onto her shoulder which she immediately resisted. 

"Look I won't do it-really. I do have someone to live for. You help me find her and I will try to forgive you." Helena whispered, her voice cracking with emotion as she stood. Offering her hand, Leon took it as he looked back to Deborah of whom she had placed a small wooden cross for within the ground. 

"Now please, leave me to mourn her." Helena begged and hesitantly Leon agreed. 

"I know we're strangers but consider it a promise. I'll be waiting." Leon said signaling a horse which he soon lifted himself onto. A horse they had taken from the ranch they had departed from moments ago. Helena's family ranch. 

Quietly Leon watched as Helena spoke to the small cross behind the ranch and an uneasiness grew as clouds built in the distance and a subtle haze shifted through the air. 

"I hope you're safe somewhere Ashley." Leon spoke aloud as he looked to his silver star clutched in his left hand. 

"I-I'm going to go check on them." Ashley said, pausing at the door only for it to abruptly open and hit her in the process. 

Laughter burst out from the others in the room and Ashley grimaced as she fell backwards into a wall. 

Grabbing her face she was greeted with a short girl who looked apologetic.

"Polly, meet uh-Ashley Gran." Moira said as Josie giggled quietly to herself from where she was next to her. 

"It's Ashley Graham actually." Ashley said her voice nazly from the impact to her nose. Bleeding slightly she hissed and she struggled to hold back tears.

"I'm so sorry Miss Graham, I didn't know you were there!" Polly apologized, reaching to hand Ashley a cloth which she thanked her for. 

"It's alright." Ashley said putting it to her face and looking at her blood on the white handkerchief with dismay. 

"Also you! Where were you when I was out there scared half to death. Dad almost-" Polly accused falling silent when she saw Josie. 

Moira looking sheepish reached out her hand which her sister took. 

"I was afraid but Jill and Claire brought you both back unharmed." Moira said blinking tears for a moment when Polly hugged her. Glaring briefly since Ashley was watching, she only allowed herself to smile when the other girl looked away. 

"It was so scary-monsters were everywhere trying to hurt me and dad." Polly whimpered and Moira sighed deeply when she felt Josie cling to her pant leg as Polly tightened her hold on her. 

"Don't worry girls, Barry will protect us. There's a ton of army here too. We're as safe as we can be." Moira emphasized and Ashley shifted her gaze from the door to the brown haired girl with a smile. 

"I believe in what Moira says. She said mama and papa left to Heaven. My parents will protect us." Josie said, wiping away Polly's tears before she lifted up her relic necklace. 

"They will and so will my mother." Ashley said abruptly, leaning down to tuck a strand from Josie's face. 

Moira looked to the stranger in front of her with a slow and unsure smile. 

"If Ashley said it, it must be true." The oldest sibling said trying to offer comfort to the younger ones. Fear of the future grew and yet Moira wanted to believe in it.

Door opening again, they each looked to see Barry who was covered from head to toe in blood. 

"Girls, gather all of your stuff. We're leaving." 

Hours prior

A shot rang out throughout the town as Sheriff Valentine rode into Armadillo on horseback. Winchester repeater aimed, Jill closed one eye as she fired and Jill managed to knock down two grey and ashen men from the clutches of a woman who had fallen from the Saloon. Hooves tapped and lifted up the dirt of the trail as more horses and gunfire followed after Jill's lead. 

"We're going to have to keep riding. There's too many of these bastards!" Jill shouted out as her rifle cracked when she shot again and blood spewed from a large zombie dressed in white and black stripes. The creature groaned as if the bullet had just been an annoyance. 

Hungered growls followed after the horses riding through the town but Claire, Rebecca, Ben, and the other men held the undead off. 

"Keep riding so I can watch!" Claire yelled back, firing the repeater she had been gifted by Barry upon their departure from Fort Mercer. 

"Watch what?" Ben questioned in confusion as his horse followed beside Angel and he continued to unload his revolver into zombies that had neared too close. 

"Watch your Sheriff kick some ass." Claire grumbled huffing when they neared the local jail which seemed to be infested with undead prisoners and lawmen. 

"Look!" Rebecca said interrupting Ben and Claire's banter to bring their attention to one of the dead men to their left. With surprise Claire soon recognized one of them as the man who had attacked her as soon as she had stepped into town. 

Before she could speak a word, "Jones" was shot in the head and he fell with a thud. Looking to her right she saw Jill who gave her a wink before she turned Starbuck to a hard right to circle back through town and the invading horde. Fires were spreading within a few buildings and to their dismay the Bank within the town was starting to collapse and become a black and charred as the wooden interior broke and fell into the orange flickering embers below. 

Hit with the smell of burning wood as the fire's smoke plumed above them, Claire wrapped her face with a cloth to mask the incoming smell of burning flesh. 

Ben and Rebecca followed suit when their attention was taken away by a loud and shrill scream. Whipping her hair from her face Rebecca gasped when she saw a woman run directly into a horde.

"Oh shit." Ben exclaimed jumping off of his horse without a thought.

"No Ben it's too late!" Rebecca called out with alarm and she continued to rise forward and she aimed her sniper rifle shooting three that had started to tumble Ben's way. 

"You hear the crying, there's someone trapped in there!" Ben yelled out as he lifted his revolver and shot a bolting zombie in the head. It's fast descent on all fours ended quickly and red seeped into the dirt where it's head fell.

"Not the time to fuckin' play hero." Claire swore out, turning her horse from following Jill to where Rebecca was and her eyes widened with alarm when a pack of undead started to chase after Ben who rolled to get away. 

Looking to the building beside them which looked to be a gun store she tapped Rebecca's shoulder to get her attention. 

Pointing to the top of the store, Rebecca nodded and she jumped off her horse who she slapped to make it run off. Growling undead chased her horse but failed to catch it as she used the distraction to run up the stairs of the gun store. Walking past a man who was likely using his store as a vantage point she made a quick wave gesture. 

"Glad to see another survivor miss." The man said, continuing to fire down below. 

"Me too sir, mind if I jump on your roof?" Rebecca asked in which she received a nod.

"As long as you don't mind sparing some ammo." The man said with a grin which caused her to roll her eyes before she reluctantly gave him some of her rifle ammo. Sighing softly Rebecca made to climb above the gun store's withering sign with her rifle over her shoulder before she rolled into position, keeping a trained eye on Benjamin and Claire who was now dropping from her white horse to follow the running man. 

"Come quick Jill." Rebecca whispered out shooting a pale and bloodied woman that had made a sprint towards Claire. In a loud blast her sniper rifle joined the firing of revolvers and repeaters as Claire sprinted after the deputy in front of her. 

"They better be alive in there." Claire whispered to herself moving to help Ben kick in the door only for the both of them to be met with resistance. 

"It must be blocked up by something." Claire said turning to fire at an oncoming body as Ben looked around for another entryway. 

"Come on, this way!" He said hurrying over to the back door of the building as he slammed his body directly into the door. Hearing the crack of wood Claire followed behind him and she kept her gun trained in case they were greeted with nothing but the dead. 

Their footsteps seemed to echo loudly against the wooden planks beneath their feet as they stopped upon hearing a grunting sound. Nervously Ben backed up only for his feet to land in a thick liquid, eyes dropping down he soon realized he had stepped in a pool of blood and he was quickly grabbed in the leg by an excited woman whose eyes glowed before she tried to bite at his ankle. 

Ben screamed in surprise and he fell to the floor in a fell swoop before he pushed away from her ashen and bloody grasp. Looking to her lifeless white eyes, he gasped upon seeing the red across her teeth and he nearly jumped when Claire shot her in the head with a quick aim of her revolver. 

"You have to be sharp. These things are fast and unassuming. Are you alright?" Claire asked moving to offer her hand but Ben refused. Lifting up he put a hand to his chest until he let out a deep breath. 

"I'm never getting used to this." He sighed out and Claire moved to drop the cloth from her face. 

"They ain't people anymore Ben. Trust me on that." She said in a soothing tone her mouth falling into a frown. 

"But they used to be." He urged and Claire could only shake her head as she moved to depart. To her surprise she was nearly ambushed but she made aim and she shot the man in the room in the chest and then the neck. Smoke flowed from her gun as she watched the body tumble in front of her and her boots thudded against the dirt once she made it back outside. Turning slightly to her left she paused when Ben reached to grab her wrist. 

Suddenly he yanked her back into the room they were in and he put a hand to cover her mouth. Grunting in disapproval Claire went to kick him in a sensitive area when she noticed a horde was running by out near where she had just been about to walk. She watched as the horde chased after two men on horseback and suddenly she wondered where Jill was. 

Removing Ben's hand from her face, Claire's frown deepened when Ben leaned closer to her. 

"What? You don't like me to be this close?" He questioned and Claire raised a brow, as her hands grew into fists. 

"If you're smart you'll move." The redhead growled out and Ben scoffed in response before he did so. Shoving away from Ben, Claire rushed outside and she took a deep breath as her right hand trembled in it's grasp around her gun. Growing angrier she stopped her shaking by gripping the handle of her gun like she was holding onto a ledge. 

Feeling the burn of how tightly she was gripping it she turned to look for Jill as Ben followed behind her. 

Part of her wanted to shoot him for putting her in that position but the other part knew she could not shoot people just because they made her angry. 

Breaking into a sprint with her gun on hand Claire rushed upon seeing Jill who seemed relieved upon seeing her. 

"Tried to rescue a few inside but we were too late." Claire offered keeping her stare away from Ben as she looked to the distant crowd of undead which had lessened dramatically as soon as they joined the towns attempt to wipe them out. 

"Come on then, let's give the people that are left some peace." Jill said, leaning to offer her hand to Claire which she took. Hefted onto Jill's horse, Claire smiled from behind Jill while Ben merely ran off to find his horse. Jumping onto his dark horse he remained silent as they continued to concentrate their firepower onto the last remaining undead. 

"Almost like wrangling cattle." Jill commented waving to Rebecca whose sniper shot she had noticed upon her last gallop through the middle of the town. Jill focused on driving Starbuck around and through the crowd gathering around the movie theater, while Claire made her shots but she sighed upon missing two of her shots. 

Reloading with a click, Claire fired into a large one she named Bruisers as she focused her next shot into the head of a Bolter, a weirdly contorted undead creature which was unusual in it's swift speed towards its targets. 

"Used to work on a farm?" Claire questioned leaning into Jill so she was speaking directly into her ear. Chuckling slightly Jill nodded as she urged Starbuck forward into another sprint. 

"Focus on them and not on me Claire." Jill said, setting her hand onto Claire's leg for a brief second which caused Claire to try and conceal the heat on her face. Upon finishing off the last of the dead with the help of Ben, Claire felt her thoughts move back to what had happened moments prior.

Stopping in front of the theater, they all let out a breath and Claire turned her attention to the town which had a sparse few left alive with buildings in ultimate disarray. 

"Will anything be normal again?" Jill questioned with dismay as she took in the mass amount of dead bodies around the town as well as the destruction as a whole. 

Feeling Claire touch her back she turned to look at her with a weak smile. 

"I'm afraid not." Claire whispered out, her blue eyes seeming to drown her with her sadness and sincerity before Jill took a breath to center herself. 

"Jill, we need to get going on back." Ben said abruptly interrupting their moment and Jill nodded her head. Taking her hat off before returning it to her head she turned to look for Claire's horse only to come up empty. 

"Where did that silly girl run off too?" Claire wondered aloud spotting Rebecca who rode over to them with a smile of relief present on her features. 

"One less town to worry about and hopefully they can keep these creatures at bay." Rebecca said as she pushed her brown hair back into a ponytail. 

"I will go search for Angel." Ben grunted and he rode away in a trot without another word. 

Jill and Rebecca looked to each other with confusion upon picking up on Ben's aggravated tone. 

"He’s upset about the people that didn't make it." Claire offered, with a glance away from Rebecca when she looked over to her. 

“There was a lot who did not make it.” Rebecca mumbled out turning to look at the bodies until Claire turned her attention to her. Horses next to each other she felt Claire touch her shoulder. 

“We tried our best Becca.” She said and Rebecca nodded, her gaze shifting to Jill who gave her a similarly strained smile. 

Hearing a gunshot, the three women looked over past the Saloon to a barn a few feet away. Rebecca turned her Appaloosa mare towards the barn and Starbuck followed until Jill held up the reins to stop Starbuck from jumping over a fence. 

Raising a brow she took in the sight of Ben holding a woman who appeared to be hogtied. 

“Found this woman in the barn. Turns out she is a—” However Ben was quickly interrupted by the woman’s angered voice. 

“I know I am wanted but treat me with some dignity why don’t you?!” The brown haired woman in dirtied clothes shouted heatedly and Ben dropped her causing the woman to grunt in pain. Her red bandana seeming to tie her allegiance with a local gang and the scar across her cheek let Jill know exactly who the woman was. 

Smirk growing Jill got off of Starbuck to loom her over. 

“Hey there Miss Sherawat. We’ve been lookin’ for you. What happened, did they get tired of you?” Jill questioned walking around her hogtied form as she crossed her arms. 

The bandit below scowled and she continued to struggle in her binds as her eyes locked in on Jill. 

“Fuck you. I’m not giving you Vester! Besides, have you seen what’s been happening? It’s prime time for us and we can do just about any damn thing we want. There’s less of you than there are of us.” Jessica laughed and she groaned when Jill kicked her hard in the side. 

Leaning down Jill lifted Jessica from the ground by her shirt and she brought them face to face. 

“We don’t need Vester if we have you Sherawat.” She remarked with a smile and Jessica growled when Jill dropped her back to the dirt. When Claire walked over she raised a brow when Jessica’s gaze shifted over to her. 

“Damn, she is a pretty one.” Jessica laughed and Claire’s hand tightened into a fist. 

“Who the hell are you?” Claire questioned when she noticed the glimmer of excitement that grew in Jessica’s eyes. 

“I know what you are hun but you’re as fuckable as they said you’d look.” Squinting her eyes Claire moved to punch Jessica across the face and she grunted but laughed as she spit blood in Claire’s direction. 

“Oooh, hot temper.” She taunted as her lip began to drip blood and Claire moved to grab Jessica up from her position on the ground. Rage grew in her gaze and she growled in her increasing anger. Grip tightening Jessica was hefted from the ground to an awkward standing position as Claire hovered over her. 

“I’m honored to be so close.” Jessica teased and Claire’s frown deepened as she moved to push Jessica away by the neck. 

“Tell them what they want to know or I’ll break your damn neck.” Claire seethed out shoving Jessica back into a fence to keep her upright. Grunting when Claire did so Jessica gave Jill a sideway glance to see she was simply watching with her arms crossed. 

“I’m not scared of you. You'd screw me before you'd kill me-oh they were right, you’re really easy to rile up.” Jessica laughed out and this seemed to worsen Claire’s rage. She tightened her grip before she released Jessica to allow her to gasp for air. 

“You don’t fuckin' know anything about me or what I'd do!” Claire growled out when Jill moved to grab her shoulder. Jumping as if she had just been hit by cold water, Claire backed away from Jessica and she quickly dropped her gaze when she caught Jill’s eyes.

“Claire, don’t listen to her. She's just trying to get to you. She's not worth getting upset over, trust me.” Jill whispered to Claire, tightening her grip on her shoulder almost in an urgence to have her look at her. In response to Claire moving away, Ben moved to lift Jessica up and he put her on the back of his horse all the while ignoring any of the curses the woman sent his way. 

Turning to glance at Jill, Claire sighed softly and her tensed shoulders relaxed under Jill’s calming stare. 

“Y-You’re right.” Claire sighed as the redness of her face shifted from anger to shame however this lessened when Jill dropped her hand from her shoulder to her hand. Suddenly Jill’s hand was grasping hers and she squeezed Claire’s hand to offer her comfort. 

Warmth erupted throughout her chest and her stomach seemed to explode with giddiness when Jill smiled at her. It felt as if a rock was skipping across a pond when she caught Jill’s gaze which was comforting in the midst of the hell they found themselves in. For the first time in a long time she was not angry at something and someone. 

Clearing her throat Rebecca giggled into her hand and both of them women looked away from one another and Jill let her hand go much to Claire’s disappointment. Gaze moving over to Rebecca, Claire shook her head playfully before they each focused on their next task at hand. 

Whistling using her fingers, Claire began to call out Angel’s name to no avail. Distress and dread grew as Claire searched for her horse until she came across several fences. Gun back in her hand she heard Jill and the others follow on their horses as she stopped her walk against one of the gates. 

Greeted with a ghastly sight Claire quickly turned away and she put a hand to her face to mask the smell that she was hit with upon nearing the fenced area. 

“Claire? What is it?” Jill questioned stepping off Starbuck to see what Claire had witnessed only for Claire to immediately stop her with a hand. 

“I found Angel.” She groaned out feeling her stomach roll with disgust as she tried to get the image of gore out of her mind. 

“Holy shit.” Rebecca gasped and since she was still on her horse she saw the condition of Claire’s horse who looked like it had been mauled by a bear. 

Tears pricked in her eyes at the stench and the unexpected loss and Claire kept her eyes trained forward in an attempt to mask her distress. 

“It was just a horse.” Ben offered in a tone that seemed less than sympathetic and it seemed to hit a nerve. 

“Don’t be a bastard right now Vickers.” Jill stated much to the surprise of Claire who sucked in a breath suddenly seeming overwhelmed by a feeling of heaviness. The itch for alcohol ate at her and she was tempted to walk to the Saloon and take a drink. 

Seeming to pick up on Claire’s sporadic emotions Jill nudged her to follow and the redhead did so without a word. 

“We’re taking our prisoner to Burton, we'll rest, then we’re going to see what we can get from her. On the way out in a few days, we’ll try our best to bring back survivors and look for this Leon Kennedy.” Jill started with a firmness as she got back onto Starbuck and Claire continued to follow her wordlessly. 

“Ma’am, why look for this Kennedy man? Hell, don’t we have enough to do with all of the dead people everywhere?” Vickers asked with a frown as Claire pulled her body up onto Jill’s horse and she used Jill’s back to shield her vision from Angel. 

“I don’t fall back on my promises, now let’s get going.” Jill said with a huff adjusting her bandoleer of ammo and her rifle as a secret smile grew on her face when she felt Claire touch her back with one of her hands. Fingers traced her back in small circles that sent pleasant chills down Jill’s spine. 

“You all are going to die, I swear on it.” Jessica said in an annoyed tone, grunting as she was jostled against Benjamin’s horse. 

“You can hurt me all you want but my men will find and kill all of you.” She threatened out and Claire could have sworn there was a bit of desperation present in her tone the farther away from town they moved. 

“Why were you alone in that barn?” Rebecca questioned Jessica who continued to glare into the horse she was stuck on as each bump of the trail made it more and more uncomfortable and painful to the burns on her body and face. 

Growling Jessica turned her head to give Rebecca a sidelong glance. 

“Look at it this way, silent treatment. You won’t get eaten alive if you’re with us.” Rebecca said lifting an eyebrow which dropped when Jessica closed her blue eyes but kept her frown. 

“You steal for money. We know you’re really not that loyal to your so-called men.” Jill remarked as they continued to ride back to Fort Mercer.

Touching Jill’s back again Claire made a motion to speak but she was interrupted by Ben who gave her a scowl that nearly caught her off guard. Regarding the strange deputy, Claire’s eyes dropped to his hand which was clutching his revolver in her direction. Confused by this motion Claire suddenly ducked when he fired and shot a Bolter that had been about to jump onto Starbuck and the two women on the horse. 

Reloading his revolver, Ben said nothing as they departed from the trail to a shortcut Jill had discovered within their brief scouting mission to Pike’s Basin many days prior to the sudden apocalypse. Claire figured Pike's Basin had been where Jessica’s gang had their base of operations but she was unsure where they were located now since their infiltration. 

Arriving back in one piece after several minutes of dodging undead and potential deviants, Jill, Rebecca, and Ben met with Barry with Jessica while Claire went off to make certain each horse was fed and accounted for within the barn nearby. 

Keeping aware of her surroundings, Claire sighed deeply once she was finally alone. Images of the dead were pictured in her mind and she shook slightly, seeming for the first time to truly think about what it is they were fighting against. 

Somehow to Claire, shooting people was easier because they often made her feel pain and yet these creatures were perfect strangers with soulless eyes of whom were being extended a mercy when any of them would end their undying existence. 

Face illuminated by the sun, the redheaded woman soon realized the world was even more uncomprehending than it was before.

Sighing softly after feeding Starbuck, Claire moved to set her hand onto Starbuck’s long neck and she petted him, her fingers brushing against his long dark mane in a slow motion.

Locking gazes with the dark brown eyes of the dark horse she blinked when tears threatened to fall from her eyes. It was absurd to Claire to feel just safe enough to cry in front of an animal and yet horses of all kinds had long been her only friend to tell her sorrows too. At least the horse could seem like it cared as it flicked it’s ears and listened. 

“So-Star, I lost a friend of yours today. Angel, you remember her right?” Claire said brushing Starbuck’s mane with her fingers while the other horses within the barn snored quietly. 

Nickering in response to Claire, she managed a sad smile before she continued speaking. 

“She was a good horse. A real scared cat that one, but a solid mare.” She said as she shifted to lift up a pail of water to Starbuck as she listened to the sound of the wind against the nearby trees. 

“Dumb animal just ran right into a bunch of ‘em and I left her to die because people-people needed our help.” Face a little wet she watched as Starbuck drank from the bucket she was holding until the stallion was finished. Setting it down next to her she laughed softly when Starbuck shook his head and effectively soaked her face and shirt with the water that had been dripping down his face. 

Wiping the cool water from her face, Claire leaned for a moment against the barn fence keeping the horse in front of her from getting loose. 

“You remind me a lot of your owner, dark, beautiful, and smart.” Claire whispered to Starbuck glancing away to the other horses as she followed a beam of light that illuminated the barn through a hole in the wooden structure. 

“But there’s more to her than that. A lot more.” She said chuckling when the silence answered her back. 

“I know pain when I see it, but she’s good at hiding it most of the time and somehow she’s-Jill is good at seeing it in me too.” Claire whispered her voice filling the barn and intermingling with the creaking of the wood. 

Tears leaked much to Claire’s annoyance and she moved to wipe them away with her thumb but a lone tear managed to evade her thumb and it descended down her scarred cheek. 

“I hurt and I kill, that’s what I am good at. I’ve been doing just that for a long time.” Turning to glance back at the silent steed next to her Claire shifted to pat his long face gently. 

“Who knew that I would come here and be helpful to a Sheriff? But how long is it before I am no longer of any use to them? I wish I knew what I was supposed to feel. I'm not used to wanting to-stay. Damn woman makes me want too.” Eyebrows knitting downward Claire put her hands to her face in her attempts to stop anymore tears from leaking.

“Fuck! How am I going to find him in this mess-what if he's just gone too?” Suddenly an anger brewed in the woman’s chest as she sobbed and she utilized the anger in the only way she knew how. 

Hands balling into fists Claire punched a wooden beam hard but she managed to crack something in the process. She groaned in pain and she clutched her hand that was not broken but had been bloodied by the wood she splintered having had enough sense to punch a weakened part of it. Removing her fist from the beam, Claire’s gaze dropped to her hand and she winced. 

“So stupid, you’re such a damn fool.” She hissed out as she picked out pieces of the wood and she returned her hand into her glove to hide the cuts across her hand. Blood dripped into her glove but she ignored it as she looked away from Starbuck’s calm brown eyes. 

Realizing how crazed she must look the redhead dropped to a sitting position and she rested as she grabbed her hand and she removed the glove. Staring at the blood she was reminded of fights of the past. They had marked her hands and left scars, visible and invisible and now even strangers whether she wanted them to know or not, knew her. 

People had passed along stories of this Redfield woman who had been venturing town to town, losing jobs after jobs through rumors of her raging temper and her lust for women. Most saloon’s she had ended up in had been dangerous ones full of people much like herself. People who were lost and wandering afraid. 

Shaking away her thoughts Claire slipped her black glove back onto her hand and she stood from the dusty ground just as she heard a knock at the door of the barn. Turning to raise a hand at the sudden light filtering in, she raised a scarred brow upon seeing Jill in the doorway. 

“Claire, are you alright? You’ve been out here a long time now.” She heard Jill say and she nodded her head in reply only for Jill’s gaze to move over to the beam she had nearly broken in half. 

“They need to get that fixed. Don’t want this falling over on Star.” Jill commented stepping closer to Claire as she closed the door, her gaze checking the area for any undead as the door shut.

“Yeah, they should.” Claire said, her comment seeming clipped and short when Jill walked over to see Starbuck. Patting his head Jill offered Claire a smile she did not return. 

“Jessica is not talking but Becca is going to keep trying.” Jill relayed crossing her arms as Claire gathered the water and feeding bucket. Walking to a trough, she took a drink for herself and she proceeded to dump the remnants of the bucket Star had a drink from to the ground. 

"Sounds good, any reason you came here? Haven't been dead here in a while since we cleared them out." Claire asked, keeping her face turned away as she spoke. 

Hearing Jill step closer she visibly tensed aware of how rude she was being. 

"Maybe I just like being around you." Jill offered as she shifted to lean against a beam and this caused Claire to turn to look at her which was her first mistake. 

"To be frank, No one likes being around me, that's absurd Jill."

"Claire you—" Jill breathed with frustration, seeming to have made a decision and before Claire knew it, Jill was touching her face gently with an worried gaze obvious on her features. 

"W-What are you?" Claire grunted out and she gulped when Jill removed her gloves. Strong hands brushed against her neck and chin and Claire wondered why she allowed Jill to invade her space like she did. 

Briefly Claire closed her eyes when Jill's thumb traced her eyebrow scar and soon Jill's fingers moved to a cut across her lip when Claire had impacted Angel's saddle. 

Hand about to trace her bottom lip, Claire grabbed Jill's wrist to stop her. Opening her eyes back open she was face to face with Jill which gave her access to the subtle scaring Jill had earned through time on her face and neck.

Breath exhaling slower, Claire winced and she loosened her grip upon realizing she had grabbed Jill with her injured hand. 

"You want someone to notice. I notice." Jill whispered in a soft tone, her gaze dropping from Claire's to her lips until she lifted her stare to her hand.

"Let me see? I won't judge what I see." Jill requested and Claire sighed deeply, her stomach churning with the fear of the unknown. 

Removing her gloves Claire bit her lip when Jill opened up her palm and she appeared saddened by the maltreatment of her fist.

"I will wrap it for you, come on." Jill stated about to turn away when Claire touched her arm. 

Turning to look back at Claire, she was greeted with tears before she felt the woman pull her into a hug. Feeling her arms tighten around her back, Jill wrapped her arms around Claire savoring the moment for what it was as she felt red hair brush across her cheek and her neck. 

Wet droplets hit her skin and Jill's expression turned into a frown as she ran her hands down Claire's back in her attempts to soothe her. 

Slumping into Jill's hold, the exhausted woman put more weight into the taller woman surprised by how easily Jill supported her. 

"I hate to admit this but I-I'm terrified of what's out there and of you." Claire mumbled into Jill's shoulder and she could not refrain from humming when Jill tangled her hand into her hair as she stroked it. 

"I am too Claire and you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm here to help." Jill admitted, raising a gentle brow when Claire moved to look at her through strands of her own hair. Tears leaked from her eyes and reddened her face as the misery remained. 

"Everything about you scares me Jill Valentine but-" Expression shifting into a conflicted one Claire struggled to find her words. 

"But you what? You can tell me." Jill urged with an unreadable expression as her blue gaze remained steady on her.

"I want to stay. I don't want anything to happen to you, I guess this means I care about your safety." Claire trailed off and she bit her lip with frustration. 

Feeling a hand in her own, she squeezed when Jill laughed softly.

"I'm glad you have that figured out." She teased and Claire nearly let go if it weren't for an arm that pulled her into another hug. 

Eventually finding the humor in it, Claire began to laugh blinking when she suddenly realized Jill's hands had fallen to her waist.

Raising a brow she noticed a slight glimmer of mischief in Jill's gaze. 

"Just because you can hug me now doesn't mean you can do whatever you want." Claire teased softly, a finger trailing down Jill's neck that the other woman seemed to be reacting too. 

"I wanted you to give smiling a try." Jill said letting go of Claire who shifted to put on her gloves. 

"Also I did mean it when I said I was glad. Your help has been invaluable and I don't feel worried when I know you're there." Jill said, keeping a smile on her face when Claire blushed a soft pink. 

"I guess that makes us partners, doesn't it?" She asked, receiving a nod. 

"If so, then you should listen better and follow me to my room right now. You're sleeping with me." 

Jill said walking away without another word as Claire felt heat surface on her face at the suggestion as she hurried to follow. 

"T-That's a little fast paced, ain't it?" Claire questioned looking to her hurting hand as the sun looked over them as they walked. 

"No Becca will understand that you're sleeping with me now." Jill said, her train of thought derailing Claire's completely.

A silence followed as they walked to the Fort's main doors until Jill spoke again.

"It will be easier to discuss what we need to do next." Jill asserted and Claire felt a genuine smile rise on her face but this was wiped away when she heard a scatter of screams, running, and the haunted howls of the undead from within the Fort's walls.


	6. Made in Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am sorry it took me so long to get this posted but it came together finally, so I hope you like it! I want to provide a warning for gore and severe injuries. There is also a character death so please heed these warnings. Everything gets serious fast. It's also a rather violent chapter and action filled, but I do plan to go heavy with the emotions next chapter. Please enjoy (: 
> 
> (Hopefully updates won't take so long next time XD)

June 29th

Calm footsteps tapped against the floor as the man reached to inject a needle into his arm. Blood dripped down his wrist as he walked into another room where the table in front of him rattled underneath the moving body on top of it. Smiling, the man pulled off his glasses as he reached towards the blanket uncovering grotesque features as the creature snarled and hissed at the sight of him. Blood red eyes stared into his own as he stood with the needle pressed fully against the vein in his arm. Removing the needle point the man dropped it into a nearby tray while he calmly wiped away the blood with a cloth. Groans and hisses greeted his ears and the man in white tilted his head to the left as he observed the rotting creature in front of him. The doctor observed the creature with a glint of curiosity and wonder when the dirtied decaying body suddenly calmed and stopped its violent thrashing. 

“Well subject five my time for experimenting with you is over. You were a good subject, but I need many more.” The German said, proceeding to pull the blanket from the dead man completely. 

With a careful precision the body covered in torn green clothing was unstrapped and released from the room it had been held captive in for days. 

“Oh excellent. It’s working as I had hoped.” The man noted as he gently guided the undead by the shoulder towards the next room. The creature obeyed in a hypnotic state and the doctor continued to tug the hungered monster forward. Gaze drifting from his subject the doctor’s lips lifted up with morbid glee as the tied soldier in front of him struggled hard in his binds. The soldier's eyes widened and he screamed but the screaming was heavily muffled by the rope in his mouth. Pain erupted within the victim's mouth when the doctor suddenly pulled the rope to further muffle the victim's distress. 

“Time for you to eat.” He said in a calm tone as he released the rope and he dropped his hand from the creature’s shoulder. As if snapped out of a trance the infected man growled and hissed at the man tied to the chair and it lifted it’s bloodied face to sniff the air. 

“Victor, are you in here?” Benjamin questioned hitting his fist against the door and disrupting the doctor’s observation in the process. 

With a pearly white smile, Victor proceeded to replace his circular glasses back onto his face. A growl emitted from the infected throat as it turned from Victor back to the victim in the chair.

“Ah yes, won’t you come in?” Victor answered, walking to the other room and ignoring the sounds of flesh being eaten as he reached towards the doorknob. 

“We just brought in a woman. We’ve been looking for her before all hell broke loose. Would you mind giving it a look? She bit me and I know she wasn’t frothin’ from the mouth but it felt nasty.” Ben said lifting his wrist to reveal the red bite mark given to him by Jessica.

Gently the doctor took Ben’s wrist with a neutral expression on his face until a thud sounded from the room nearby. 

“What was that?” Ben questioned removing his arm from Victor’s grasp as he walked into the next room despite the other man’s protests. 

Seeing the horrid sight in front of him Ben’s face visibly paled and his stomach dropped with disgust upon seeing another man’s intestines. The sounds of squishing and feasting caused bile to reach his stomach and throat and he backed into a wall as he struggled to find his gun, however, unknowingly he had lost it at some point between their return to Fort Mercer from Armadillo. 

“Victor what—?” Ben whispered his frightened gaze darting to the doctor who walked over to the feasting creature with an ease that felt strange. 

“Now, now. You wouldn’t want him to starve would you Benjamin?” Victor asked as he backed away quietly and allowed the infected man in front of him to stand to it’s hunched height. 

“No—Victor you crazy bastard! What the hell is this?” Ben shouted, lifting up his fist and a knife as he blinked his gaze from Victor's strange red eyes to the other monster in the room. 

An evil grin grew on Victor’s face when the creature shuffled over to where Ben was standing in the corner. 

“The pursuit of knowledge is not one without many sacrifices Mr. Vickers. I will be seeing you—or maybe I won’t. ” Victor laughed as he turned to walk out of the room with his hands held behind his back. More infected made their way in upon being released and fear shot through Ben as the mauled soldier beside the hunched one nearing him fell to the floor. He grimaced as it began to crawl in his direction, spreading blood across the wooden floor in its haste as it separated it's torso from its legs. 

Hand tightening around his knife Ben swallowed slowly before he closed his eyes when they neared. 

“I’m sorry Jill.” 

Screams lifted Rebecca’s stare from Jessica to the door with alarm. Turning to look she paused when she heard the chair Jessica was tied to scooting across the floor of the room. 

Reaching forward she stopped Jessica who growled under the bandana they had covered her mouth with after she had bitten and spat into Ben’s face. Tightening her grip on the chair Rebecca narrowed her eyes at her. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” She questioned as Jessica’s blue eyes slowly grew to pinpricks. Hearing her scream and shake her head back and forth in panic, Rebecca whirled to see a figure rise forward in a slumped posture. 

Hand slipping from the chair to her gun on her side, Rebecca exhaled a slow and calm breath before she lifted it up and aimed it at the ashen figure. 

A roar entered her ears and gunfire sounded out resulting in the body thudding forward into a fall. Rebecca kept her gun aimed forward as she rushed to the door to take stock of the situation. 

Screams of people were heard down below as zombies lumbered and chased after their victims within the large fort. To her horror a few were caught and immediately feasted upon while soldiers who were not a part of the infected tried to fire and contain the threat. 

“Oh shit. Not again. We can’t stop an outbreak.” Rebecca breathed out, pushing back to close the door when dead soldiers started to clamber their way up the stairs onto the upper portion of the fort. Alarmed by the growing number of infected Rebecca attempted to block out the surrounding screams as she rushed to block the entrance with a wardrobe. 

Sweat dripped down her face and she wiped a loose strand of her brown hair as the wardrobe slumped forward after she lifted it and the crashing sound it made caused her to visibly wince. Glass shattered around the broken wardrobe but she chose to ignore it. Quickly stacking tables and chairs she grit her teeth when her eyes landed upon the only other exit, a lone window that only had wooden shutters to conceal the sun or the weather. It was slender albeit the woman suspected she could slip through it with a bit of a squeeze. 

Stopping in front of Jessica, Rebecca looked her over until she decided to remove the bandana from the bandit’s face. 

Fingers still tucked into the bandana she gripped Jessica’s chin firmly. 

“Listen to me and listen well. We’re in an emergency situation so I implore you to be cooperative.” 

Jessica’s face immediately screwed up with defiance as she moved to jerk Rebecca’s hand from her face. 

“Untie me and maybe I will listen to what you’re saying honey.” Jessica spat wiggling in the ropes around her arms and biceps in obvious aggravation. 

“Well honey can do that. I’m freeing you but that’s only because I cannot carry you.” Rebecca chuckled with a dry tone evident in her voice as she pulled out her knife and cut into the binds behind Jessica. 

Loud footsteps hit against the outside of the blocked door and Rebecca nearly cut into Jessica’s arm when she jumped upon hearing loud bangs against the door. 

“Are you calling me fat?” Jessica huffed as she stood from her binds as soon as she heard the rope snap against the blade. Rubbing her arms and wrists she tensed when she felt the end of a revolver against the middle of her back. 

“No but I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.” Rebecca affirmed setting her hand onto the taller woman’s shoulder and surprising Jessica with her strength when she shoved her towards the window. 

“I am not sure about you throwing me but I bet you could bend me very far.” Jessica cracked laughing at her own joke as Rebecca used her hand not holding the gun to open the shutters. Immediately upon doing so they were greeted with a rotting hand that grabbed against Jessica’s red necktie. 

Gasping in surprise Jessica backed up into Rebecca and she screamed in fear when it tried to pull her out of the room. Necktie being loosened by Rebecca quickly the dark haired woman fell into her as the zombie’s hand clutched against the red piece of garment. 

Gulping with relief Jessica turned to look at Rebecca who grunted when the revolver fell from her hand to the floor next to them. Jessica swallowed as she turned off of her back to allow Rebecca time to breathe. 

Lifting up slowly the bandit visibly hesitated upon spotting the gun before her gaze dropped to Rebecca who seemed preoccupied with something else. Hand falling to her chest Jessica raised a brow when she saw Rebecca had fallen into a piece of glass that had been shattered by the force of the infected’s impact with the window. 

Unsure of why she was hesitating, the bandit reached for the gun despite Rebecca’s protests and she turned away from the downed deputy to the window where she shot an arm directly. A bullet impacted and splattered blood against the shutters before she walked to shoot the lone zombie in the head. 

Brain splattered in an array outside the room they were in as turned to be face to face with Rebecca. 

Smirk rising Jessica pulled back the hammer of the gun as she lifted it to aim it at Rebecca’s chest. 

“Looks like it’s all on my terms now sweetheart.” Jessica laughed as the banging against the door they were barricaded in grew even louder. Rebecca grunted as she touched the glass shard in her stomach and she slumped slightly from the pain.

Wincing Rebecca sighed in acceptance of the situation and she clenched her eyes shut not wanting her last few moments to be of the bandit’s devilish smirk. 

Tears dropped across Helena’s face as she rode beside Leon, the man she had befriended during one of the worst moments of her entire life. Glancing sideways to the practical stranger she observed the morose expression evident in his stoic blue gaze and it made her wonder what other horrors he had seen before they had crossed paths. 

Perhaps it had been cruel to hold him accountable for Deborah’s passing and yet the anger she felt brewing in her chest seemed to rage that someone was to blame. That someone was at fault but her eyebrows dropped with a growing fear that in the end it was her own failure which led to her sister’s death. 

“Helena, I think we’re nearing your friend’s home. Any idea as to what state this part of the land is in?” She heard Leon ask and his calm voice interrupted her brewing thoughts much to her relief. 

“Do you think I go riding around asking how the apocalypse is going? Hey everybody, how are the walking corpses doing today? Oh fine? Just fucking dandy. The weather’s fine too.” Helena could not help but snark and Leon paled slightly before he brushed it off like he had the past few hours they had been riding together. 

“I was just wondering.” Leon grumbled as they stopped near the outer fence of the farm. 

Sighing softly Helena brushed her loose hair from her face as she had the grace to glance away but she paused as the quiet wind blew across their faces. 

The farm appeared broken down and vacant and the only comfort they were afforded was there were no obvious fires spreading across the structures or people fleeing for their lives. Despite this the stoic air and faint rancid smell set Helena’s nerves on edge as she attempted to search around the farm on her horse. 

She did not appear to care if Leon followed her at this point as the desperation for her friend grew. This was her family’s farm and yet there was no sight of her or her family. 

“No livestock.” Leon noted much to Helena’s dread as she looked through a barn only to see it was empty of cows or horses. 

“Think they ran off during the storm?” Helena pondered as she stopped her ride to take in her surroundings further. She glanced to the ground to see horseshoe indentations and a few boot prints that appeared to be recent. 

“Very likely. With all of this chaos—It’d make sense, since no one could prevent them from running away.” Leon replied squinting when he thought he saw a figure in the distance. 

Helena followed the trail of the boots with her mare alongside the tracks and she stopped suddenly when she nearly rode her horse into the barn’s main house. Sliding off of her mare, Helena stepped quietly towards the entrance of the home which she could tell was boarded up heavily. 

The windows were broken and yet held closed by several pieces of wood and when she attempted to open the front door it wouldn’t budge. 

“Leon, could you try opening this?” Helena questioned turning to look at the deputy who’s attention was obviously elsewhere. 

Confusion grew on Leon’s expression as he tried harder and harder to see past the distant heatwave affecting the ground which made his head dizzy when he looked too far. 

Raising a brow Leon blinked upon seeing a woman in red. Turning to briefly glance at Helena he jumped off his horse and he looked again only for the woman to be gone. 

“Are you alright?” Helena questioned with obvious annoyance as she reached to hand the blonde some water. Taking it Leon blinked again as he turned his head from Helena to where he had thought he had seen the woman and yet just as before there was no figure or pigment of red in sight. 

Taking a brief drink from the water Leon handed it back to Helena.

“Yes I’m fine, I just thought I—never mind, thanks for the water.” He said cutting himself off as he walked to open the door. Ramming his shoulder several times into the door he broke in an opening and he grunted as he stopped and hunched his body to avoid falling forward. 

Helena stepped past the broken pieces of the wooden door and she listened to her heartbeat as she looked around the familiar home. She was suddenly reminded of sweet tea and yellow lilies as she glanced around and she stopped past a photograph of herself and her friend. 

“Is that her?” Leon asked in a gentle tone as Helena lifted a black and white framed picture from the wall. 

Within the photo was a much younger version of herself and a smaller girl with waist length blonde hair. Tracing her finger against the other girl’s hair Helena sucked in a silent breath.

“Yes, this is her.” Helena answered by turning to set the framed picture into a nearby table as she began her search for life of any kind. 

“You two seem close.” Leon observed his eyes flicking across several more photos on the wall when he felt Helena grab his arm. 

“I need to find her and trust me, she’s too smart to be dead. If anything happened to her parents she would be—she would be in the cellar!” Helena started with a revelation evident in her dark brown eyes as she suddenly turned to sprint out of the house. Hurrying to follow Leon tucked the black and white photo into his vest pocket as he rushed to catch up with the woman. 

Following Helena who seemed familiar with this land he stopped his sprint when she stopped in front of a double doored cellar. Without hesitation or a brief exhale of breath from the run, Helena began to kick at the cellar door in her attempts to break it. 

“Fuck there’s a damn lock and chain.” Helena growled with aggravation as she pulled out her revolver and she aimed it at the cellar doors. 

Black crows and bats flew away in rapid succession towards the darkening green sky at the crack of gunfire and the metal rusted lock fell to the side of the doors before Helena slid her gun into it’s holster. 

Gripping at the chains she pulled at them aggressively and Leon soon moved to assist her in her tugging. 

“At least let me do something.” Leon chuckled as he grabbed up the metal chains and threw them to the dirt and grass beside them. 

“I have to know that she’s alright.” Helena protested reaching to yank open the splintered cellar doors after her aggression with them. Pausing as sweat dripped down her face Helena’s eyes grew at the sight of blood on her hands when she moved back from the doors. 

Gasping at the sight she propelled forward into another rush and she smeared red on the side of the cellar’s walls as her hands brushed against them.

“Helena!” Leon yelled with concern holding up his shotgun with alarm as he leaned his head down when he entered. Glancing back briefly he reached to pull the cellar doors closed before he hurried to follow after the reckless woman. 

“You’re going to get yourself killed.” Leon hissed reaching to stop Helena in her rush and he pushed her into the surrounding brink in the process. 

“I don’t care what happens to me. I have to f—find her .” Helena whimpered tears appearing in her eyes while Leon moved to cover her mouth with his hand. Initially she resisted until she finally started to calm down from the adrenaline. 

“I know Helena but you won’t find her if you’re dead. We’ll find her but we have to be calm about this alright?” Leon soothed removing his hand from her face when her stare became much less frantic than it had been. 

The lantern above them flickered and Helena slumped as her gaze dropped to the stone ground underneath their feet. 

“You’re right, thank you Leon.” Helena whispered, swallowing her tears and wiping them with the back of her hands. 

“No more tears, just finding her.” Helena went on to say as she allowed her shoulders to relax ever so slightly. She received a brief smile from Leon as he took in the calmness of his companion. 

“Let’s do this quietly. We have to see to believe.” Leon whispered, cocking his shotgun as he attempted to glance through the semi darkness of the cellar they were within. 

“Don’t worry Sherry, I’m coming for you.” Helena said while she slowly followed Leon with her hand holding her revolver firmly. 

Locking gazes with her new found partner they continued forward unaware of what awaited them ahead. 

Screams erupted through the air and Jill immediately grimaced as she glanced at her partner beside her. A grim expression on Claire’s face dropped her smile as Jill moved to bang her fist into the double doors in front of them. 

“Hello! Is anyone there?” Jill questioned calmly despite the rising panic in her blue eyes when she turned to look above them. She spotted no one and the increase in screams and gunfire set the hair on her arms and neck to stand. 

“There’s no way we’re getting that open, it’s barred.” Claire remarked lifting up her gun as she took in their surroundings noticing with dread the loud noises was drawing in more undead. Bolters, undead, and bruisers in a crowd started to build and she quickly tapped Jill to bring them to her attention. 

“Follow me!” Jill said with urgency in her tone as she pushed herself into a sprint towards the side of the fort. Growls and moans followed Jill and Claire as they ran away from the looming horde behind them. 

“Where the hell are we going?” Claire asked but her shout was unanswered as Jill made a quick turn towards the back of the fort. Having been a long run with the undead biting at their heels they both felt sweat build on their faces until Jill turned to lean down. 

In brief confusion Claire stopped only to realize Jill was going to boost her up on a few wooden boxes full of supplies that had been left in the back. Gulping slowly she moved to put her boot into Jill’s hands and her eyes widened briefly at the strength of Jill’s heft as if she weighed nothing to her. 

Suddenly finding her face into the top of the last box Claire gripped it and she lifted her body up. Urgency ran like a horse through her as she turned to reach her hand down to Jill. 

The sounds of several footsteps and growls could be heard as she strained to reach for her. 

“Hurry come on!” Claire yelled her scarred brow moving downward with her emotion when Jill missed her hand. Letting out a breath she pushed her body further down and Jill finally grabbed her hand. 

Firming her grasp she pulled up as hard as she could and to her relief Jill soon followed up onto the top of the fort with her but just a wisp away from being attacked by the crowd of zombies. 

Moving backwards Claire grunted when Jill landed on top of her. Jill’s hands landed on either side of her head and she gasped when Jill’s entire weight accidentally fell directly into hers. 

“Sorry Red.” Jill apologized, lifting up her body with a push up and providing Claire with enough room to breath. Face and body warming in a way that she knew had nothing to do with the sun, Claire managed an awkward smile. 

“Don’t mention it.” She whispered as she watched the Sheriff stand. Seeing a hand directly in her vision Claire reached up to grab Jill’s offered hand. 

“Oh shit run!” A voice shouted and they each turned to see a man in uniform sprinting from another soldier who had blood caked all over his face and body. 

Noticing the dead soldier’s ashen features Claire frowned upon seeing families who were scrambling for safety. 

“Oh fuck they’re everywhere.” Jill gasped, pulling out her rifle and aiming for the dead soldier. With a crack of a shot the soldier fell with an audible splat and she reloaded to fire at another zombie within her sight. 

“It’s like Rebecca warned us about.” Claire groaned aiming her revolver down from the top level area they were on before she lifted the gun up into the air. 

“I’ll try and draw them away from the women and children. You try and find Barry.” Jill said, trying to formulate a quick plan as she searched the area with her eyes. 

Jill fired another round and she killed another rotting soldier before she glanced around as well. Nearby a couple of soldiers with guns were firing into the growing number of undead from atop a makeshift safe space.

“Do you think I am just going to leave you?” Claire asked with irritation and heat to her voice as she used her other arm to stabilize her next few shots. She hit a dead woman in the chest and face and stopped her from infecting a child who ran into a man’s arms soon after. 

“We’re both quick shots. I think we can handle ourselves but these people can’t. Most of them don’t have guns.” Jill replied reloading her rifle after several more shots before she reached to grab Claire’s arm. Squeezing it gently Claire looked at her. 

“Trust me.” Jill urged her lips rising into a slow smile as Claire continued to stare at her. Sighing deeply Claire nodded her head in agreement. 

“Fine, but don’t you die on me.” Claire threatened pulling back the hammer of her revolver as she prepared to vault over the steps below. 

“When you find Barry, make sure they’re getting as many out as they can. I will look for Ben and Rebecca!” Jill yelled covering Claire as she ran to where more gunfire was erupting from. She shot twice to stop incoming undead as Claire slid next to a box. 

Glancing to Jill due to their distance she merely waved before Jill moved until she was no longer within her sight. 

Barry reloaded his shotgun as he blasted through undead who used to be his men as he cleared a path to the wagons he had ordered his men to press to the west side of the fort. Of what men were left they raced against the growing number of undead outside and within the fort and with dread the outside began to pile in after the back fort doors were found to be open. 

Racing forward Barry glanced at his daughters to make certain they were close as he and two of his men covered them and two other families from the onslaught. Gunshots likely numbed everyone’s ears when the Gatling gun outside poured into the zombies attempted to surround the wagon. 

Moira continued to shield Josie’s eyes as the others took in the increasing gore and the fall of several bodies as they were forced to haste up the stairs of the fort. Grunting as she kept Josie onto her back she watched as Polly hurried ahead in hopes of helping another little girl onto the wagon. 

“Holy shit.” Moira swore when she finally saw what the army was shooting at. The crowd was immense and despite their efforts the undead army against them seemed to grow as if the loud sounds of the gunfire were drawing them in. 

“I’ll help!” Moira heard Ashley yell as she raced to help more people onto the wagon outside. They were transporting as many people that have survived as possible which to Moira looked to be a few children and mostly women. A couple of men who looked to be fathers lifted up a few of the children as they attempted to shield their eyes from the monsters below. 

Finally after several more minutes of gunfire and horrible growls they seemed to have found a temporary peace or the eye of the storm which was the perfect opportunity to escape. 

“Go ahead Josie, I will be right there.” Moira whispered lifting Josie to Ashley who took her and then handed her to a uniformed man who seemed a little shell shocked when she glanced at him. Tapped on the shoulder by Barry he snapped out of it before he took Josie into the over encumbered wagon load of survivors. 

“It’s full sir, I don’t think we can fit anymore!” The soldier down below manning the Gatling gun shouted to Barry who sighed before he looked to those who remained behind. 

“Polly go to that wagon.” Barry instructed. Frowning Polly went to protest but he set his hand on her shoulder. 

“Please, and Williams, you have to get them to Rathskeller now. I’ve heard they’ve kept it secure.” Barry growled and Polly went to hug Moira who tightened her grip upon realizing they would be separated. 

“Barry what—“ Moira started as Polly climbed in. She was immediately met by Josie who looked to Moira and Ashley with fear in her wide brown eyes. 

“Williams will protect you honey.” Barry said to Polly as he turned his head to look at Moira. 

“We have another wagon coming but I’m going to need your help Moira.” Barry said a grave expression on his face as the wagon headed by Williams took off and the other man fired into nearby undead. 

Watching her sister and Josie leave, Moira swallowed thickly when she was face to face with a gun that her father was holding out to her. Shaking slightly with a cold chill of unbridled fear Moira was slightly sedated by the feeling of Ashley’s hand on her elbow. 

“I’ll use the gun sir. I know how.” Ashley interjected, taking the gun from Barry. Dark eyes landing on Ashley he managed a grunt as he lifted up his rifle. 

“Keep close and keep sharp. We have to keep guard in case anymore come back.” Barry said his gaze moving across the fort and outside it when gunfire throughout the fort suddenly stopped. 

Stopping against the edge Barry looked down to the bottom floor and to the piles of bodies. Closing his eyes briefly he attempted to not count the amount of people who had not made it when he heard a voice call his name. 

Footsteps in a run tapped against the dirt and his eyes shot open when he spotted Claire running from something. 

“Barry!” Moira yelled with alarm and he followed her pointed finger to the infected man chasing her. 

Time seemed to slow as he took aim with his rifle but he hesitated upon seeing the man within his scope. 

“Oh no.” He gasped clicking the trigger but the gun jammed. 

Heat grew in Claire’s chest as she ran her boots stirring up the dust of the dirt under her. Having lost her gun in a scramble she found herself defenseless when she finally came upon someone else instead of Barry. 

The sounds of her pursuer seemed loud as her heart pounded with the acceleration of her sprint. Panic brewed and her fear increased when Claire accidentally put herself into a corner. 

Tripping forward she grunted when she impacted a red box of TNT. Hitting the dirt hard her exposed arm scraped against the dirt and rocks. Lifting up despite the sting Claire turned just in time to see her pursuer heading in her direction. Relentlessly the ashen figure ran forward even though one of its legs was clearly not meant to bend in the direction it was. 

Backing up quietly Claire’s expression paled upon realizing she had happened into a room full of dynamite and TNT. Hurriedly searching she grabbed a piece of dynamite and she attempted to ignore her pounding heart as she searched with her other hand for her lighter. 

When her hand impacted the square object she struggled within her pocket to fish it out as the infected man neared. It was a lone chase since she had executed the rest but the last thing she wanted was to be face to face with this one. 

Noticeably it had a red tinted glow to its eyes as if the devil itself had possessed it and she could not help but feel sick to her stomach as she stared ahead at her enemy. 

“Oh I do have one.” Claire said, lighting a cigarette and sticking it past her lips as she moved the flickering flame to the end of the dynamite before she paused. 

“I’m going to blow up the whole damn place if I do this.” She groaned to herself shutting the lighter and setting the dynamite aside as she thought up a different plan within seconds of the infected man reaching her. 

Grunting from the next impact Claire pulled out her survival knife and she pushed it in front of her. Stopping the next bite she kept it in front of her face as the man chewed at it in its attempts to eat her. 

“Please don’t let Jill see this.” She whispered with dread as she shoved and struggled with the bloodied man trying to claw at her arms. 

“Get off, don’t make me do this!” Claire screamed as she gazed up at the man who’s lifeless eyes bored into her own. 

Hearing muffled groans and snarls as her answer Claire continued to block it with her knife but she was pushed down to the ground because of its weight. 

Claire growled and she thrust the knife forward into the zombie’s chest. With enough force she drove it into the dead man’s chest and she effectively pushed it off of her. Gasping Claire removed the blade and she stabbed it downward over and over again until the zombie below her no longer moved. 

Blood had splattered onto her face and clothes and she stared at the knife in her grip for a long moment as the reality of what she had done sank in. The rage she had previously felt simmered as a pit in her stomach hurt and grew.

Claire tightened her grip on the knife and she nearly let out a scream when her eyes landed on the silver star on his chest. 

“Claire?” She heard a voice call out and she startled when she looked up to see Jill with a shocked expression evident on her face. 

The cigarette soon fell from Claire’s mouth as she shook for a moment. She felt hands on her arms soon after and she was tugged away from the body. In a daze Claire barely registered arms circling her or Jill’s voice before she felt heat at her back. A loud bang disrupted the Earth and threw dirt and rocks into them and she felt the sting of pain until she was suddenly blocked. 

Rolling across the dirt with Jill, her vision was blurred by Jill’s body and face.

Several hours of time seemed to pass in that mere minute for Claire until all Claire could see and taste was dirt before a blackness surrounded her senses as her head hit the ground hard enough to knock her from consciousness. 

“Claire.” Jill croaked out several seconds later as she turned to her stomach. Everything seemed to burn and hurt as she crawled towards the unconscious woman she had impacted moments prior. A terrible heat and fire spread across Jill’s back but she ignored it. Barely able to focus as the intensity of her pain grew she could have sworn her insides were currently being torn apart. Despite this the Sheriff reached for the woman now beside her but she did not respond to Jill’s hand against her leg. Stopping for a deep and painful breath Jill was unaware her back was on fire when she closed her eyes as the increase of dust and soot caused them to burn. 

Loud vibrations echoed around her and yet the violent image of Claire stabbing Ben to death flashed in front of her. Groaning upon being hit in the back, Jill let out a whimpered scream when someone put the fire out on her back, likely saving her life. 

Slowly hefted up Jill’s head lolled to the side but she felt a small bit of relief when she recognized Barry’s arm around her stomach.

She thought Barry had said something but the ringing in her ears blocked any sound for Jill as a couple of figures reached to lift up her unconscious partner. 

“We have to get them out of here! That TNT is spread out throughout the whole fort and who knows how long before the fire spreads!” A soldier shouted ushering Barry and the rest of them to the wagon where they carried Jill and Claire. 

Moira kept a firm grip on Claire’s legs while Ashley kept Claire’s head into her lap with worry evident in her gaze as she took in the dire state of both of them women. 

“I know!” Barry shouted in return jumping into the wagon’s front seat as he lifted up the reins to pull them out of the fort’s vicinity. 

Ashley put a hand to her mouth when she looked to Jill. 

“D—Don’t look.” Moira whispered, taking Ashley’s horrified gaze from their injuries. Each of the women were respectively covered in black but openings in their clothes exposed red mixed within it from their various scratches and cuts. 

Within several minutes of riding from Fort Mercer another round of explosions rocked the Earth and wrecked the fort. Glancing back briefly Barry quickly turned his head and he pushed the horses carrying the wagon forward in a hurry, a grim frown falling across his darkening expression as the sun fell across the horizon to sunset.


	7. Strange Mysteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca having been kidnapped and taken prisoner by Jessica must try her best to survive and tend her injuries with hopes that the other's have survived. Barry, Moira, and Ashley struggle past the western trails towards refuge in Rathskeller Fork with an unconscious Jill and Claire while Leon and Helena discover more clues as too Sherry Birkin's whereabouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone if you're still reading this I am very sorry for the several week delay. College has been monopolizing all of my time as of late but excuses aside I am extremely excited to post this! I have the next chapter underway already since I could not fit everything into this one. I know it's probably slow going but I hope I have kept you interested with everything that's going on. Thank you and I hope you enjoy. I know I am terrible at summaries, forgive me. XD
> 
> By the way the music I used for this chapter was "Thought of You" by The Aces (Among other songs from them) and "Apocalypse" by Cigarettes After Sex.
> 
> Oh and a quick warning there will be mention of cannibalism in the beginning. I know I have the gore tag but I wanted to provide this for anyone who might be squeamish. (: Also important warning as well there is a homophobic slur.

Rebecca grunts and struggles against the other as she is forcefully dragged through the dirt and the sand of the desert. The force of the other woman’s grip stirs up the dust as their footsteps create several different sized imprints into the dusty trail they are walking across. The trail long dug in by wagon wheels and horse hooves was disturbed until they veered away from the commonly used trail to the grass and rocks that decorated the nearby landscape. The sun had long set by this point in time and the blistering heat had dramatically dropped causing the smaller woman to shiver in the breeze. 

“I’m injured. At least let me—” However anything else Rebecca tried to say was interrupted by a cold blue glare. 

“Stop you’re fuckin’ lecturing or I will shoot you.” She growled to Rebecca who paled visibly as she suddenly fell forward into the bandit’s back. She felt bile rise to her throat likely due to the injury to her stomach when she felt Jessica’s back tense against her. 

Rebecca sighed, moving her face from Jessica’s back as she looked to her wrists which burned under the rope Jessica was using to keep her hostage. 

“I don’t understand, why haven't you killed me already? Where are you taking me?” Rebecca remarked as the fort loomed behind them while they went further and further from the infested area. She could see undead in the distance and yet Rebecca longed to be back in the Fort with her friends and allies. 

“You’re supposed to be begging to live, not begging to die. I’m not that bad to be around.” Jessica chuckled, not seeming the least bit perturbed by recent events. 

Squinting in confusion Rebecca continued to wrestle her wrists, her hair falling to cover her face as she felt her eyes leak with tears. 

“You’re not crying now, are you?” Jessica questioned with irritation as she pushed keeping a tight grip around the lasso she had stolen from a man dead on the ground as she fled from the Fort with Rebecca. They were now within a valley of hills and they seemed to be closing in on a campfire which was made evident by the orange glow and smoke in the distance.

“No.” Rebecca sniffled, blinking her eyes rapidly when they suddenly stopped. 

Glancing through her messy curtain of hair Rebecca raised a brow upon seeing a man who looked to be sitting at the campfire. With disgust she soon realized he was covered in blood with limbs laying beside him. 

“Hello there miss, care to stay for a bite?” The man chuckled with a growing grin when he looked up from his meal to Jessica who pushed strands of her hair from her face to reveal a smirk. 

“We’d be delighted. I brought a friend.” Jessica purred, turning back to grab Rebecca and she grunted when she dragged her from her crouching position to a standing one. 

Eyes growing to pinpricks Rebecca’s panic grew when she saw the hungered delight in the stranger’s eyes. 

“Ah, you brought me a gift.” He remarked as he whipped blood onto his face with his fingers. 

Pulling Rebecca despite her struggling Jessica sat her down across from him at the campfire. Rebecca felt pain on her shoulder when Jessica moved to tighten her grip on the deputy’s shoulder and Rebecca could only groan with dread when his dark gaze flicked from Jessica to herself. He was looking at her as if she was not a person but a food of some kind. 

“Not a gift, but a trade for your gun, ammo, and horse.” Jessica barked motioning to the rifle beside him. 

Watching his bloody red fingers touch the barrel of the gun fear grew in Rebecca’s chest. 

“Please no, I’m a human being!” Rebecca protested when the man smiled and lifted to hand Jessica the rifle. 

“Shut up.” Jessica said as she smiled appreciatively at the gun now in her possession. She waited however and Rebecca glanced down to the fire with a sickness growing in her stomach and chest at seeing the number of bones beside the man. She could tell from her experience that they were human. Fear grew like the raging campfire in front of her and Rebecca tried to think of an escape route.

“Trade accepted?” He asked with a low laugh as he slowly moved to stand with his attention now solely on the woman in binds. 

“A trade is a trade.” Jessica shrugged, stepping from Rebecca and giving him space in the process. 

Rebecca pushed her body back since her legs were not bonded and she lifted to kick him in the leg. He screamed in surprise when she landed a strong kick to his shin. 

“You bitch!” The cannibal hissed growling in pain as he set his hand onto his leg. Disgruntled but not seriously harmed however he soon resumed his walk to Rebecca. Feeling disgusting hands grab at her face and then her arms she let out a frantic scream trying to fight him off any way she could. 

A sharp pain entered the side of her head when he reached to bite her ear and she struggled again in her attempts to kick him away. Finally landing a kick to his chest Rebecca gasped as she dragged her body away from him and the fire. 

Growling in anger the man was distracted again but a yell entered the air when he was shot directly in the chest. Body thudding next to the fire Rebecca gasped in shock when he let out a scream before he was silenced by another gunshot. 

Turning with surprise Rebecca locked eyes with Jessica who had blood splatter across her blue shirt and suspenders. She watched with her mouth agape as Jessica reloaded her repeater, the spent ammo falling onto the dead man beside her. 

“I told you I was keeping you.” She whispered her gaze moving from Rebecca to the gun as she swallowed and she took heavy breaths. 

“You made me think he was going too—” Rebecca glanced up to the darkening sky in order to look away from the bandit she so despised. 

“There’s plenty of bastards out in this world. You just have to be worse than them or they’ll eat you alive. Literally too.” Jessica said stepping above her into her view with the rifle now slipped into a holster on her back. 

Trying to look away again Rebecca jumped when she felt Jessica touch her arms but she relaxed when she felt the rope being removed from her wrists. Rubbing them gingerly, Rebecca's right hand fell to her ear and she groaned quietly at the sting when she felt a warm liquid drip down her ear past her chin. 

Looking down to her hand Rebecca exhaled deeply at the sight of more of her own blood when she felt something hit her leg. Glancing down she saw bandages and she paused to look at Jessica only to see the bandit’s back as she searched through the dead man’s personal items. Gulping slightly Rebecca reached for the bandages before her eyes stopped on the horse nearby. A part of her wanted to run for it and yet the rifle on Jessica stopped her. She would likely not be quick enough even if the dark was quickly approaching. 

Hissing Rebecca tapped a cloth to her ear as she moved to sit next to the fire. Sighing Rebecca’s stomach rose and fell upon the realization she would have to pull out the glass that had been lodged into her stomach. Grunting she reached for it and she winced when she pulled it out. Quickly the relatively shallow cut in her stomach began to bleed and she moved to bandage it. 

“Does he—are there any scissors?” Rebecca questioned pressing the white cloth to her stomach as she waited for a response. Being eyed by the bandit she raised a brow when Jessica shook her head. 

Stepping towards Rebecca, the deputy jumped and she went to move away when Jessica neared her. To Rebecca, it felt like Jessica was a wolf while she was the one stuck as an helpless injured deer and yet eventually Rebecca allowed her muscles to relax as Jessica reached to cut the cloth with a knife. 

The heat of the fire abated some of the cold but Rebecca continued to shiver as Jessica worked on the bandage with her new found weapon. The blade cut away at the cloth until it could be placed on Rebecca’s stomach and she frowned when Jessica offered her a smile. 

“What?” Rebecca snapped, setting her shirt down to cover the injury as she crossed her arms. 

“Impressive physique is all. For someone so small.” Jessica laughed with a smile on her face that almost made her look like a woman for a moment. Rebecca’s gaze darted away. 

“I know what people like you do to women. It’s disgusting.” Rebecca spat her hands clenching into fists when Jessica set her hand next to her leg on the dirt underneath them. She was sitting with her knee on the ground and she was beginning to lean over Rebecca much to her annoyance. 

A stench grew as Rebecca realized the gore around them once again and her face began to pale. 

“I won’t do anything like that to you. That’s not how I do things.” Jessica said her voice falling to a whisper and it grew quieter when Jessica stood from her spot on the ground. Watching her from the corner of her eyes Rebecca continued to hug herself as Jessica went to the horse and began to search through the saddles on its sides. 

“Oh nice, I’ve been kidnapped by a thief with morals.” Rebecca huffed rolling her eyes when Jessica turned to glare over at her. 

“What did I say about being quiet?” She said her voice falling back into its usual unkindness as she moved to drag the man she had murdered from the camp likely for animals to feed on in the coming days. 

Rebecca reluctantly obeyed as she kept next to the fire trying to focus on anything but the pain on her side and the dead people surrounding her. Tears tried to escape from her eyes as she put her face into her hands. 

She was unsure of how she was going to escape her terrible situation but she could only hope the others were still alive. 

The wagon creaked as the wheels crushed rocks and dirt underneath it. The grass was swayed by a gentle wind while the people within the wagon remained quiet yet tense. 

“How long until we’re there Barry?” Moira asked breaking the silence as her mouth fell into a frown when the wagon hit a rock and bumped her into the blonde beside her. 

Ashley’s hand brushed against Moira’s arm and Moira glanced to her only to blink at the worry written across her face. 

“Hey, we’re going to be alright.” Moira assured her and Ashley merely nodded with a frown. She turned from Moira to look at the two unconscious women beside them with further distress. 

Red hair was splayed out across the bottom of the wagon and Claire’s hair brushed against Ashley’s fingers when she leaned to get a closer look. Her gaze then moved from Claire to the other woman, Sheriff Valentine who seemed to be in worse condition. 

Her back had been scorched by the explosion and her long brown hair had been singed. With dismay Ashley could see places where her back had been burned which was exposed by the missing pieces of shirt that remained attached to her. 

“It looks like it’s gonna be another 2 hours ‘till we get to Rathskeller.” Barry answered his perpetual frown falling deeper while the soldier beside him lit a torch to illuminate their darkening path. The orange flame created a soft glow against the dirt trail and the nearby foliage as the wagon moved Northbound. 

“Fuck, is Jill going to last that long?” Moira grimaced, as she moved to touch Jill’s back and she sighed when she noticed the seared red skin. 

The burnt smell of clothing and flesh mixed with gunpowder caused Ashley to shift uncomfortably and she put her hands to her mouth as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. 

In the front Barry winced slightly at Moira as he continued to whip the ropes in his hands to get the horses to run faster. This caused the wagon wheels to spin faster as the large brown horses pulled it forward in a hefty gallop. 

Moira sighed as she removed her dark jacket and placed it over Jill’s back.

“She has to make it. They’ll wake up soon, won’t they Moira?” Ashley asked, reaching to grab Moira’s forearm when Claire stirred and groaned quietly beside her. 

Before Moira could reply the man beside Barry spoke, “Yes Miss, I know it looks bad but I reckon Miss Valentine and Miss Redfield will pull through.” He said, turning to offer Ashley a gentle smile. 

Pink dusted her cheeks at the young soldier while Moira removed her arm from her grip with a disgruntled expression appearing on her face.

“Roland, this is no time for your flirting.” She scoffed receiving a playful eye roll from the man with dark blue eyes.

“I’m just trying to offer some comfort.” Roland replied as he turned to wink at Ashley causing her to offer a weak smile. 

Moira chose to say nothing and she slumped in her position and she leaned back against the side of the wagon with her disdain seeming to grow until she felt something cold touch her back. Reaching to pull the object out Moira twisted the knife Jill had given her in contemplation. 

“Why are you not worried about your friends?” Ashley asked after another long silence besides the creaking of the wooden wheels underneath them. 

Turning to regard the blonde Moira raised a brow and she scoffed softly, “Jesus Ash, I’ve got my sister and Josie to think about too. Jill and Claire are grown ass women.” Moira said her eyebrows moving downward with her lips when Ashley pouted at her. 

“My name is Miss Graham to you.” She rebutted crossing her arms and crinkling her orange collared shirt in the process. 

Flipping the knife again Moira tried to contain her amusement with a snort, “Aw did I hurt your little feelings again?” 

Rolling her eyes Ashley went to say something when she turned her head to look to the front of the wagon,

“Mister! Look out!” She yelled out in alarm, her brown eyes widening with her fear when the horses rammed directly into a random horde of undead that had gathered on the trail. They all grunted in surprise and Moira yelled something but her voice was drowned out by the loud whinnies of the horses. Ashley grimaced at the frantic sounds of the animals as they trampled and knocked over bodies, the wagon’s wheels crunching limbs as the horses attempted to escape. Their hooves lifted into the air in fright as lightning struck within distant clouds. 

“Come on!” Barry shouted urging the horses forward.

Ashley suddenly screamed, taking Moira’s attention from her father and she swallowed in shock when an infected grabbed a fistful of Ashley’s hair. 

“Ashley!” Moira shouted, startling Claire awake. 

“Moira help me!” Ashley cried when the infected attempted to pull her out into the waiting arms of the other snarling and growling dead. Fear shot through Moira like an ice cold rain and yet she reacted. Shoving herself forward she connected with Ashley before she stabbed the knife forward and into the eye socket of the attacker.

Finally it’s pale hands retracted from the force of Moira’ stab and it let go of Ashley. The blonde immediately fell forward into Moira who pulled her away from the edge.

More rumbling and crunching could be heard as they continued to pile forward and the girls tightened their grips on one another as they tried to avoid being grabbed by the horde’s reaching limbs. 

“Captain!” Roland exclaimed distracting Barry for a moment when he thrashed the torch around catching nearby rotting men and women on fire upon making contact. 

“We’re nearly clear!” Roland said next and he grunted as he continued to fight against more grasping arms. 

“Light another torch!” Barry instructed and he wiped at his brow before he pulled out his gun and began to fire on the ones at his left side. 

Roland did as he was instructed and he handed one to Moira who gulped before she used it to keep some at the back at bay and away from Claire and Jill. 

“Keep going Barry!” Moira shouted and she ignored the shivering girl beside her for a moment when Claire appeared in her vision, her grim expression causing her to blink. 

“You’re with us.” Moira stated simply as Claire went to reach for her gun only to be unable to find it. 

“Shit.” Claire hissed and she put a hand to her darkened cheek, her fingers revealing her tanned skin underneath the dirt before she turned to look at Jill who was still unconscious. Expression hardening at the sight, Claire pulled Jill’s revolver from her holster and she reloaded the gun before she pushed past the girls to the front. 

“How many of these assholes are there?” Claire asked as she blinked her burning eyes rapidly. 

“Redfield!” Barry said firing another round before his gun clicked. 

“Fuck if I know but there looks to be damn near 20 of ‘em.” He answered his arms thrashing downward as he whipped the horses in hopes of them making it alive if the horses could make it past the crowd. 

A few bruisers appeared in the front path near what appeared to be an opening and Claire narrowed her eyes when she noticed they were now blocking their escape route. The large mass figures appeared ready to ram into their wagon and she swallowed as she prepared to fire but to her dismay a sharp pain entered her hand which caused her to miss her next two shots. 

“Claire!” Barry urged having noticed the bruisers a few seconds after Claire and his grip on the ropes tightened. 

“S—Shit!” Claire swore and she shot one in the chest several times but it seemed to only slow it down as it began to run with the others. 

“Claire, kill the fuckers!” Moira hollered out with rising panic evident in her tone when Claire managed to only manage a shot into one of them. 

A rifle shot entered the air alongside Claire’s next shot and two bullets impacted the zombie and spewed its blood onto the figures near it before the rifle went off again effectively killing the running figure beside it.

With surprise Claire turned and she eyed the barrel of the rifle, the smoke flowing from the weapon as her senses were overcome with rot and gunpowder. In those tense seconds her eyes trailed the barrel of the gun to the hands holding the gun and she managed a relieved smile when she locked gazes with Jill. 

Jill appeared calm and collected as she killed more infected and Claire pulled back the hammer of the revolver with her thumb as she joined her in the assault. Suddenly her vision began to clear and sharpen as she focused her next shots managing to make five headshots and two more vital area hits. Jill matched her and beyond with six headshots and a vital area hit that knocked a growling woman to the ground. 

The sound of reloading could be heard and Claire’s gun clicked on her next shot. Finally after several more tense minutes the remaining undead were cleared and Claire finished piling in her last bullet before she relaxed her stance from where she was behind Barry. She patted his back with the palm of her hand as he yelled at the horses in hopes of spurring them forward again. 

“Claire.” Jill whispered from behind her taking her mind off what had just happened as she turned to look at her with concern. Claire’s face visibly paled upon seeing the pained look in Jill’s eyes.

Suddenly Jill slumped from her crouched position and she collapsed but Claire caught her before she could hit the bottom of the wagon. 

“Easy there Jill.” Claire said her panicked tone shifting into a soothing one as she reached to pull Jill against her. 

“What happened?” Claire asked as she moved her arm gasping softly at the damage she saw when Moira’s jacket slipped from Jill’s back. Turning to glance at the girls they wore collective shocked expressions much like deer's caught during the hunt before Moira managed an answer. 

“You must have hit your head hard. Uh, short story short the fort’s been blown all to hell because someone shot the dynamite we had stored up. Obviously we had barely enough time to escape with everyone left—” Moira’s voice drifted with a tentativeness rare to the girl and Claire noticed the concern and fear in her eyes. Turning from Moira, Claire looked over at Ashley who was now resting her head against Moira’s shoulder. 

“You were in that room with all the dynamite Claire. I think Jill saved your life.” Ashley admitted and wet tears dripped past her eyes as Claire’s eyes widened for a moment as she took in what they had said. Her gaze drifted to the unconscious woman in her arms as guilt began to surface. A sharp pain in the back of her head distracted her and she hissed. 

“My mind is a little fuzzy right now but I know I should thank her when she wakes up.” Claire mumbled her voice, falling to a whisper as she ran her left hand through Jill’s hair only for tufts of it to fall into her hand. Her frown deepened and her hand grew into a tight fist. 

“Claire?” Moira suddenly asked, distracting her from the woman that caused Claire’s chest to burn and her stomach to tighten. Locking gazes with the younger girl Claire’s expression shifted back into confusion when she saw the growing concern in her brown eyes. 

“We’re almost there girls. Get ready for anything because we have no idea if it's safe.” Barry instructed turning all of them away from the back of the wagon to the front. Roland nodded his head in response and he lifted up the torch to better illuminate their path once again. 

Each of them within the wagon tensed as they prepared for the worst as Barry rode them into the town of Rathskeller Fork. It was not much of a town besides a couple of large white stone buildings and a large roofed livestock area to their immediate right. Otherwise the town was flimsy fortified and protected by stone white walls, the only other protection being the large mound behind the town. They had passed many rock formations as they had crossed through the desert far in hopes of refuge in the northern isolated town. 

“I had a buddy who said the best blackjack game in Gaptooth Ridge was here. There’s not much else but at least there ain’t a lot of people.” Barry grumbled and he lit a cigarette as he pulled next to the wagon next to the other. 

Relief flooded through the Burtons when they saw Polly, Josie, and the other survivors come out of the houses. Other residents appeared as well but Barry noticed that all of them were secure on the rooftops. 

“Daddy!” Polly shouted as she ran hand in hand with Josie who had fresh tears rolling down her face. Moira jumped out the wagon first with a smile and she grunted when Polly ran directly into her. 

“Oh thank God you’re safe!” Polly gasped as she hugged her sister despite having knocked her to the ground. Moira merely laughed with similar delight when Josie piled into the hug. 

“Thank Ashley’s mother for watching us.” Moira said as she moved to get the girls off of her. Polly and Josie each turned to look at Ashley and Barry who offered them their own version of smiles. Ashley’s appeared weak and tentative while Barry’s appeared slightly stoic but relieved. 

“Take the girls inside Moira.” Barry said after he reached to hug Polly with one arm. Moira shook her head initially but whatever else she had been about to say was interrupted by Claire who appeared with Jill in her arms. She made no sound as she pulled Jill towards a doorway and the rest followed quickly. 

“We need a doctor!” Barry suddenly shouted and he turned to a man who lifted up his hat in response. 

“My brother was one sir!” The man said and Barry merely nodded before he ushered him forward with his hand. 

People within the hallways shuffled out of the way as Claire stomped through it as if she owned the place. An angry expression was evident on her dirtied face as she kicked a door open and she moved to place Jill on her stomach on the nearest white bed. It was leaning against a wall next to an armoire and a circular mirror in the far corner. 

Barry and the man entered the room and the bearded man closed the door to shield the curious observers from looking in. 

“Oh boy.” The man gasped upon seeing the condition of the woman’s back. He reached his hand forward tentatively but he was stopped by a strong grasp at his wrist. 

“Do you have anything we can put on it? I don’t think we should touch her more than we have too.” Claire said her grip tightening when he eyed her with surprise. He merely nodded his head feebly before he reached into his pocket to show her a bottle. 

“I’ve been using this to treat the other survivors. My brother said it was a cure all! Not so good for the zombies though.” He said scratching his head and he swallowed when Claire’s eyes narrowed. 

“What is it?” She asked turning the green bottle every which way before she opened the cap and smelled it. 

“Well this ain’t a cure all for what’s wrong with Jill.” She said putting the cap back on before she walked over to her. Her eyebrows knitted downward as she struggled to think of what could help her. 

“What plants do ya have nearby? Any to treat burns?” Barry asked, interrupting Claire’s growing distress as he moved to set a hand on her shoulder. 

“Yes sir we do!” Suddenly the man in the white shirt attempted to race off only for Barry to stop him. 

“I’m goin’ with you so you don’t get yourself killed. Come on and Claire here.” Claire watched Barry as he moved to set a gauze wrap in her hand. She gripped it as he offered a weak smile to her. Nodding slowly she glanced to the door which Barry shut behind him until her gaze fell back down to the bottle and gauze. Tucking the tourniquet into her pocket she moved to sit down on a chair beside the bed. 

“Somehow I feel like this is because of me.” Claire said as she took a drink from the green bottle. The liquid burned down her throat but she ignored it as she reached to touch Jill’s cheek. This unexpectedly opened up a single blue eye and Claire nearly moved back if it were not for the hand now touching her wrist. 

“Claire—Claire?” Jill asked, her voice sounding strained and pained as Claire moved her fingers from Jill’s cheek. 

“I’m right here.” Claire answered the pain in her hand sending a fire up her wrist and arm when Jill’s hand moved to grip hers. Claire watched in silence as Jill’s eyes fell back closed and her grip loosened. Eyelids drooping slightly Claire tucked a loose strand of brown hair from Jill’s face before more of her hair fell off into her palm. Realizing quickly what was happening she swallowed slowly before she reached for an object on her side. Pulling out the old familiar blade Claire proceeded to pass the time taking care of the singed hair near her neck as she waited for Barry to return. She hummed quietly as she cut at Jill’s long beautiful hair with dismay when her eyes fell to the burns once again. Steeling her resolve she swallowed before she refocused on removing the damaged hair from Jill’s neck. 

“She’s not here.” Helena growled her anger evident as her voice carried through the cellar they were walking through. Leon followed behind her calmly as he took in his surroundings. He paused and he rubbed his face with his hand before he turned to look to see a paper stuck to his boot. Reaching down he lifted it up before he scanned the letter. 

“Helena.” He said handing the note to Helena who grabbed it with both hands with apprehension clear on her features. 

He watched as her eyes traced over the cursive handwriting before her face visibly paled. 

“This is Sherry’s handwriting.” Helena said her voice betraying her worry when she crumbled it up into her fist. 

“And?” Leon questioned his blonde bangs slipping into his face when Helena glared up at him. 

“But she would never write this! Something’s happened to her.” Helena said her hands balling into fists. 

“She said something about her family taking a trip.” Leon merely raised a brow while he tried to connect the dots. 

“Do you think it’s a code?” He ventured despite his growing concern that this woman in front of him was not completely sane. 

“Yes, because her family never leaves their home, not even for day trips. They’ve always sent their workers into town for supplies.” Helena answered and she began to look around the empty cellar, her confusion growing when she spotted more blood puddles. She walked over to the brown liquid and she leaned down next to it before she put a hand to her mouth. 

“Leon!” Helena said, catching his attention because of the fear that had slipped into her tone. 

He turned with surprise growing on his features when he noticed something he had not seen before. A red and white symbol painted across the center of the far left brick wall that had previously been obscured by the beam he had been standing behind. His mouth fell into a thin line. 

“I’ve seen that symbol before.” Leon said and he stopped next to Helena as he put his hand against the brick. He knocked his fist against it surprised by its hollowness. 

“Grab that shovel.” He instructed and Helena obeyed quietly as she grabbed the handle waiting to see what the deputy would do when he used the handle to hit against the brick. To her surprise the brick began to crack and cave in at the weak spots the harder he hit the shovel against it. 

“I’ve never seen this before. What the hell is this?” Helena growled to herself before she grabbed, the move to push against the bricks shoving several inside before the dust plumed upwards and she coughed. 

“Who lives here?” Leon questioned as he dropped the shovel upon there being a big enough hole for either of them to crawl through. He turned his head to look for a light source while Helena traced her fingers across what was left of the symbol smearing some of the red onto the white paint. 

“The Birkins. They’re in the oil business. Umbrella I think it’s called.” Helena answered her smile leaving her face as she swallowed thickly. 

“I think they were in money trouble. Sherry was always so quiet when her parents were around but she’s told me that men in suits would come around sometimes and give her pa money. This makes more sense now that I think about it.” Helena said pausing as she and Leon stopped on the other side of the hole to see a large chest. 

“Treasure hunters are always looking for the next pot of gold.” Leon replied as he reached with his rifle to knock the lock off of the brown chest. Helena moved forward to unlock it and her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest. 

Lifting the brown chest’s lid upward her eyebrows fell in shock when no gold or diamonds could be seen. All that remained was a single pistol she had never seen before. 

“Is that a German pistol? These were banned when the war started.” Leon remarked as he reached to take it. He whipped the dust from it and Helena grunted as she moved to search for anything around the chest. She felt around the large chest in hopes of finding something.

“I think I found something.” Helena said as she brushed some dirt from her face when she stood. Leon turned to look from the pistol when Helena lifted up an aged map that had been hidden within a hole in the center. She flicked it open and the delight at finding a clue dropped from her face. 

“Tumbleweed.” She said next and Leon’s expression dropped into one of dread. 

“The worst part of bandit country and you’re telling me your friend has been taken there?” He grunted as he noticed the rage build up in Helena’s eyes. 

“They’ve taken her and who knows what they’ve done to her parents. They’re one of the richest families in the West for fuck’s sake. These treasure hunters probably think they have more stocked up somewhere!” She said as she put a hand to her face. 

“Helena, even if I wanted to take you there. Everyone I know is in Europe right now and now undead freaks are trying to eat my face off.” Leon protested as he straightened his back when Helena moved to be at eye level with him. 

“If you won’t help me. I will go after her on my own!” Helena growled and she shoved Leon backwards before she moved to crawl back through the hole. 

Tucking the Luger into his side holster the blonde man huffed before he followed after her. He trailed after the angry woman as she stomped through the cellar and back towards the surface. 

“Let me see that.” Leon grunted as he pushed open the doors only for Helena to brush past him briskly. Not stopping in her frantic pace Leon hurried after her before he stopped her with his hand. 

Hand tightening around Helena’s elbow he kept the younger woman from going any further. Her gaze softened slightly upon noticing he had followed her before she crossed her arms. 

“I don’t know why in the world I got stuck with you, but I can’t fight this feeling that I am supposed to help you.” Leon said as she brushed some of his hair from his face with a sigh. Amusement appeared on Helena’s face as she tilted her head slightly asking him to continue.

“Look you said something about Umbrella right?” Leon asked and he waited for a moment before Helena nodded slowly. 

“Well I think this means we’re going to need more help.” Helena appeared confused by this as Leon’s expression grew serious. 

“Let’s just say I’m not who I said I was.” He said and Helena tensed when he pulled something out of his pocket. She merely raised a brow as her mouth formed a line. Lifting it up for her to see she blinked when she realized that was a star that only federal agents wore. 

Helena ran a hand through her hair as she looked around them noticing that the night was upon them. 

“We should build a campfire and then you’re going to tell me your story.” Helena said as she moved to grab her horse, her expression was much calmer and relaxed than it had been hours prior. Nodding in response Leon walked over to his horse as he slipped the star back into his pocket. 

“Only if you share yours in return Miss Harper.” He asked, smiling slightly when Helena rode off with her finger raised towards him in the air. 

Two days later.

Gasping Jill’s body burned with exertion as she raced after the shrill screams. She recognized them as Claire’s which furthered her panic. Heart thumping loudly along with her footsteps Jill continued to run forward not caring as thorns ripped at her clothes. Her body stung painfully and the green and yellow pasture had shifted into a mudslide making it that much more difficult to navigate. Heart pumping like a racing horse’s hooves, Jill pressed on regardless of the painful strain in her attempt to save Claire. 

“Claire! Just keep running!” She yelled, losing her breath as hands and limbs grasped at her and ripped and teared at skin. Panicking at the increasing amount of undead and how much they were slowing her, Jill soon clenched her eyes shut as tears leaked from her eyes. She would not be able to escape this time. 

However she suddenly felt a hand grab her arm and pull her away from the grasping limbs. Gasping from the exertion of the run Jill turned to face Claire who had a firm grip on her arm. 

“I’m not leaving you behind.” Claire said her face brightened from a smile that was growing and Jill returned it despite the increasing footsteps and growls she could hear behind them. Perhaps it was the tiredness and the numbing pain but she suddenly felt much lighter than she had felt several minutes ago. 

“Look there’s a house!” Claire suddenly yelled and Jill turned her gaze from the redheaded woman to the house looming in the distance. The relief was short lived however when they came closer and closer to it. Fear grew like a cold iceberg in her chest and she nearly retreated from Claire’s grip completely. Despite her protests Claire continued to push her forward with a surprising strength. 

Arriving at a vacant and dark farmhouse, Jill tried to shut her eyes upon recognizing it as her childhood home. 

Shakily she stepped up onto the steps of the hollow wooden house and the door creaked open as she shouldered her way inside. A lamp flickered on with a dose of a match and Jill lifted the oil lamp with her freehand while she kept her bloodied arm and hand gripped to her chest. 

Struggling forward she hissed with each heavy step and her breathing increased with her dread.

“What is this place?” She heard Claire ask from behind her and yet she could not prevent her feet from moving down the hallway. 

The moans of dead men and women suddenly fell silent and only the creak of wood and the clink of the oil lamp in her hand followed her throughout the hallway. 

Weeping greeted her when she passed a wooden door and Jill groaned softly as blood continued to drip down her forearms. 

“Jill.” She heard Claire say and she stopped and turned to face her but surprisingly she was now missing. Glancing around in surprise Jill searched the vacant house for her partner but to no avail. 

Touching an old oak door, Jill pushed her hand forward and it fell open in a loud creak. Stopping in the doorway, her gaze dropped to the floor when she recognized Claire’s figure.

“What are you doing?” Jill questioned as she stepped into the room her confusion growing when she saw that she was hovering over a man’s body.

"You killed him—how could you?" Her mother's voice gasped and Jill turned with surprise as her surroundings shifted into the ones she remembered from a much younger age. Flowers were clear in the meadows nearby and the sun beamed through the broken window beside her letting in a slight cool breeze. Breath catching Jill shivered silently as she stared up at her mother with her eyes wide. 

Seeing the angry look in similar blue eyes she felt the dread build and her shock grew when her mother shoved her resultling in Jill tripping over one of the man's legs falling in a painful tumble. 

People swarmed her much like the dead and they approached so rapidly Jill struggled to breath when her mother and father stood over her. She wanted more than anything to look away to Claire and yet her entire body was paralyzed from her fear. 

"Don't say it." Jill pleaded desperately as tears dripped down her cheeks and onto the wooden floor. 

"You let them die." Repeated and penetrated her mind like echoes within a well. 

"You worthless queer. You're not my daughter, you’re nothing." Fell from her father's lips and Jill cried when the pain in her body resurfaced as if knives were digging into her back and skull. 

"Stop it!" Jill suddenly screamed and she was soon looking into a mirror only to see her own clothing drenched in blood instead. Angered by this Jill pushed forward and she began to punch it, shattering it and the haunting image of her younger self. Her fists were cut heavily by the shards of glass but Jill ignored the pain when the word resembled itself on the floor when she glanced down. 

“I’m not a monster. I did not let anyone die. I—I did nothing wrong. I’m not—not a monster .” Jill sobbed and her tears fell and mixed with the blood in her hands. Utter shock arrived when she looked to the palms of her hands, the dripping blood frightening her heart into a pounding beat. 

“Jill.” Claire’s voice said through the accusations that repeated in her mind and she opened her eyes preparing to hear more haunting voices when she was greeted with darkness. 

Suddenly the feeling of hands were on her shoulders and she trembled in an attempt to fight whoever it was off. Managing to get loose, Jill prepared to strike them when a match flickered in her vision and she realized it was Claire above her. 

Seeing the concern in her tired eyes, Jill stilled and she shook as Claire silently moved to light a lamp before she waved the match light out. Slowly Jill moved to lift herself up from the cot but a warm and tight grip on her forearm stopped her. Feeling a warmth invade her on the small cot, Jill shifted to her side to give Claire more room but the other woman remained hovering over her. 

"Claire I—sorry I must have woken you." Jill apologized blinking over at the door and the white partially decorated room they were in when Claire shook her head in reply.

"It's fine, I was already awake." Claire revealed and Jill recognized the scent of absinthe and she frowned slightly when Claire took a drink from a bottle and she offered it to her. 

"For pain Jill also I need to check on your back. Is that—alright?" She heard Claire whisper tentatively into her ear as she shifted closer to Jill but Jill felt Claire hesitate for a long moment. She could smell the alcohol on Claire’s breath when she exhaled but the aching pain in her back made her grab the bottle and take a drink. Carefully she sat up grumbling into the top of the bottle as she hissed from the terrible pain invading her senses. It felt as if a branding iron was being pressed all over her back over and over and she could tell by the feeling of the cloth on her back that it had been wrapped again.

“Ashley and Moira gave you fresh bandages this morning.” Claire revealed as she moved away to give Jill a bit of space as the brunette woman moved to lay on her stomach. 

Glancing around the room Jill exhaled a breath, the shakiness growing until she looked back over to Claire. A slip of moonlight from a tall window in the room gave her enough light to see Claire’s face which had been previously hidden by the shadows that dominated most of the room despite the lamp which shed a portion of it away. She could see Claire’s features much better after she lifted up the lamp from the floor and beside Jill on the bed. 

Claire appeared the same as before to Jill and yet she could sense something was different. 

“How long was I out?” Jill asked as she shook the bottle in her hand, the sloshing liquid rocking around within its confines. Claire shifted beside her again and she stretched out her legs as she brought her knees down to the wooden floor. 

“48 hours according to that clock.” Claire chuckled and Jill raised a brow when she appeared to hesitate again. 

“Go ahead.” Jill said giving her permission and she nodded as she reached to take off the collared shirt Moira had been gifted by a generous man by the name of John. She lifted her upper body up to allow Claire to remove the white shirt before she turned to allow Claire to remove gauze that ran across her back and chest. Subtly Claire’s eyes darted away when she removed them and Jill could not help but smirk. 

“What? Never seen another woman before? I find that hard to believe.” Jill whispered out teasingly.

“Alright then, what happened to my hair?” Jill ventured next when she received no answer from the dazed woman. Blinking over at Jill, Claire stopped glancing away to smile at her. 

“I thought you needed a new look.” Claire said swallowing as Jill reached one hand up to her hair to feel a few strands. The Sheriff could likely tell her hair had been cut by a knife blade. 

Her fingers brushed through her shortened hair surprised that it came up to the end of her chin. She straightened her up her pose when Claire stood over her and she winced slightly when Claire began to wipe a brown powder across her burns but she cooed appreciatively when it lessened some of the intense pain she had been experiencing.

“Herbs they’re called and they work like a charm.” Claire said, her voice falling into a whisper as she lifted Jill up a bit to begin wrapping her injuries. Smiling slightly despite the pain Jill kept her arm tensed revealing the muscle in her arm when she did so. Claire’s eyes darted to her arm until she cleared her throat when Jill’s gaze found hers. 

“You’re fidgeting and acting stranger than a rattlesnake. What is it?” Jill questioned her heart pounding for a different reason when Claire finished wrapping her back for her.

Sensing the pain Jill was still in, Claire reached to touch her face with her hand before she retracted backward, a troubled expression falling over her features like a dark cloud. 

“I’m sorry.” She apologized, the silence becoming tense the more seconds that ticked away. The drunkenness seemed to leave Claire’s eyes as she sobered up when she was met with a confused stare from Jill. 

“Sorry for what?” She said pressing a hand to Claire’s wrist when she sat up from her prone position. Claire averted her eyes again while she lifted the shirt over to her. Slipping it on and slowly buttoning it Jill tried to get Claire to stop looking away from her. 

“Do you remember what happened?” Claire returned, seeming to dodge Jill’s eyes when she tried to lock gazes with her. Frustration built in Jill when she saw guilt rise in Claire’s eyes. 

“Claire I only remember pulling you out of a room and—” Jill’s breath caught as realization grew across her distressed features. 

A long moment followed as Jill put her hand to her face, her hand brushing against the sweat as it dripped down her cheek along with fresh tears. Claire watched quietly and she closed her eyes for a moment when Jill began to cry like she had been before she had woken her up.

"Oh God—Rebecca and Ben." Jill whispered miserably causing Claire to open up her eyes. 

Hiccupping Claire shifted closer to the other woman and Jill turned to look at Claire when she felt her hand touch her own. Jill turned her hand to hold Claire’s hand and she noticed for the first time the bandage wrapped around her fist.

“We had people and families we had to get out of there. You did all you could, you know it.” Claire whispered back.

Biting her lip Jill’s eyes misted again at the thought of Rebecca when she felt Claire stroke her hand gently. 

“You’re drunk right now Claire and that is because you feel just as responsible for what happened to them. You can’t bullshit me.” Jill barked out, turning her head to the room’s interior when Claire let go of her hand.

Gaze landing on Claire’s she noticed her sharpening gaze and Jill’s mouth fell into a frown.

“Ben was bitten. Rebecca-Rebecca is not your fault. No one who died that day was your fucking fault and I—I had no choice.” Claire said, her voice burning with intensity.

Tears managing to slip down her face Jill’s eyebrows knitted downward when Claire brushed some of her dark bangs away. 

“I was responsible for them.” Jill whimpered her vision blurring with more tears as she continued to speak.

“I failed. I failed them. How could I lose them—t—they were all I had.” 

Claire swallowed when Jill closed her eyes in anguish. Lips falling further downward Claire brought her left hand to Jill’s cheek and she wiped the tears away before she closed her eyes and she leaned forward slowly. 

Opening her eyes Jill’s heart rate increased when Claire neared her face. Confused as to what the other woman was doing she took in the details of Claire’s scarred face and the small freckles she could now see before Claire’s lips met with her head. 

Warmth enveloped Jill’s chest and face as Claire continued to tenderly kiss her head and Jill found she missed Claire’s lips when she moved away.

“You saved me. I know I’m not much but I am still here.” Claire whispered as she retreated back into the chair she was sitting on her. She sighed softly as she moved to hug her arms together with her hands resting on her own shoulders. 

“Claire can you give me the bottle?” Jill questioned as tears slipped past her cheeks from her chin. 

“I don’t think—” Claire started only for Jill to reach past her to the bottle that was next to her. A flare of despair seeped across Claire’s face when Jill took a drink of the rest in a quick motion.

“You’re not the only one who drinks too forget but I have a feeling it won’t work for either of us this time.” Jill whispered and Claire tensed when Jill slowly stood from the bed. Glancing up to the brunette she raised a brow when Jill touched her forearms with her palms. 

“You were worth it. Don’t mistake my grieving for selfishness.” Jill whispered and Claire’s face reddened when Jill’s lips brushed her forehead. 

“I just wish I could stop your pain but I can’t.” Claire lamented as Jill’s fingers moved to grip the collar of her shirt. 

“You being here is enough. It's better to have you here than to suffer alone, having you with me helps Claire.” Jill said after a long beat of silence. Stare fixed upon the standing woman Claire took a heavy breath as she tried to force her fuzzy thoughts to clear. 

“Do you want me to stay?” Claire ventured with a silent breath when Jill lifted her from the chair. Nearly struck silent by Jill’s intense dark blue stare, Claire raised a brow when she received a tentative nod. 

“Yes.”


End file.
